Is a jin 500 g or 600 g? Regional Unit Difference Check

About unit names that collide

Same character, separate systems — not translations of each other

A 斤 is 600 g under Taiwanese law, 500 g under mainland Chinese law and about 605 g under Hong Kong law. None of them is the correct one: each is exact within its own system. A bare name only has a value once you know which system wrote it, which is why search snippets that answer with a single number quietly pick a region for you.

Some names even straddle kinds of quantity

An ounce can be a weight (avoirdupois 28.35 g, troy 31.10 g) or a volume (US fluid 29.57 mL, imperial 28.41 mL). Gaps within the same kind are compared directly; across kinds no ratio is shown, because comparing grams with millilitres would be a fake number. When the answer depends on context, the tool asks one question — where you saw it — instead of guessing.

What this tool does and does not cover

This tool answers what a name refers to, with every reading tied to a named official source; values that a source only publishes as a minimum are shown as minimums. It is not a general unit converter — conversions are shown only within a name family to tell the readings apart. Names without a verifiable official definition are left out rather than filled in by inference.

FAQ

Common questions and answers about this topic.

How many grams is a jin (斤)?

It depends on the region: 600 g in Taiwan, 500 g in mainland China and 604.79 g in Hong Kong. A recipe or market price written with 斤 means a different amount in each place, so check where the text comes from first.

What is the difference between a troy ounce and a normal ounce?

Gold and silver are quoted in troy ounces of 31.1035 g; everyday weights use the avoirdupois ounce of 28.3495 g. The troy ounce is about 9.7% heavier, so reading a gold quote with the wrong ounce misprices it by that margin.

Why is Japanese bread sold by a 斤 that is not 600 g?

Packaged bread in Japan uses 斤 as a trade custom governed by a fair competition code, which only requires at least 340 g per 斤. It is a labelled minimum, not a conversion — so a bread 斤 cannot be compared directly with the Taiwanese or mainland catty.

Are US and UK gallons the same?

No. A US gallon is 3.7854 L while an imperial gallon is 4.5461 L — about 20% larger. Fuel economy in miles per gallon is therefore not comparable between US and UK figures, and a US pint (473 mL) is likewise smaller than a UK pint (568 mL).

Is a food-label Calorie the same as a calorie?

No — they differ by a factor of 1000. The Calorie on food labels (also written 大卡 or kcal) is the kilocalorie of 4184 J; the small calorie is 4.184 J. When a label says 200 卡, it means 200 kcal.

Which unit names does this cover, and what is out of scope?

It covers 13 name families where the same name means different amounts: 斤, 兩, 錢, ounce, pound, gallon, pint, ton, 里, calorie, horsepower, 坪 and 兆. It is not a general unit converter, does not cover compound units such as fuel economy, and leaves out names without a verifiable official definition.

Is the ton of an air conditioner the same as a metric tonne?

No — they are not even the same kind of quantity. A metric tonne is 1000 kg of mass; the air-conditioning ton is cooling power, where 1 refrigeration ton equals 12,000 BTU/h, about 3.517 kW. A 3-ton air conditioner weighs nowhere near 3 tonnes.

Data Sources

This tool's data is compiled from the authoritative sources below.

Data last maintained 2026-08-31