An ancient character combining 爻 (yáo, a symbol of change and alternation, seen in the I Ching) with 手 (shǒu, hand) as a semantic hint. The core idea of "two hands exchanging something" is baked into its earliest oracle-bone precursors, making it one of those characters where the meaning has barely shifted in 3,000 years.

换 is indispensable in everyday Chinese situations: 换钱 (huàn qián) means to exchange currency — critical at banks and airports — while 换乘 (huàn chéng) means to transfer between subway or bus lines, a phrase every city traveler needs. Beware of confusing 换 with 变 (biàn), which also means "to change" but implies transformation rather than substitution (e.g. the weather changes vs. swapping seats).