Essential Apps and tools

  1. Access: Sims & VPNs
  2. Payments: Alipay & WeChat
  3. Navigation: A-map & Baidu
  4. Transportation: Didi, Trip, Railway12306, & Alipay 
  5. Accommodations: Trip.com

Extras

  1. Food Delivery: Meituan takeout
  2. Coupons: Meituan
  3. Luggage forwarding and delivery: Jindong
  4. Ride-sharing: Shunfengche


Etiquette and observatons

  1. Dining
  2. Noise Levels
  • Payments
China’s “super apps” provide access to almost anything you can imagine via their embedded mini-apps. WeChat and Alipay are the most essential, especially when it comes to payments. I prefer Alipay, as do many foreigners, but I’d recommend linking a card to WeChat as well—it’s much more ubiquitous among locals, and I’ve found that some vendors only accept WeChat payments. 

Alipay (支付宝)

English version available

Linking a card

  1. Download the Alipay app and register for an account. You don’t need a phone number for this; an email will suffice.

  2. Go to “account” → bank cards”, and follow the prompts to link a bank card. You might need to do additional security steps from your card’s end.

  3. You can now use your linked card on Alipay.
You’ll need to verify your identity via one of these methods when registering. An ID is not necessary to link a card, but you might eventually need to to, in order access other features.
A straightforward bank card flow.


Using Alipay for payments

At physical checkouts, larger vendors will usually scan your personal QR code via the “pay/receive” method. Smaller vendors, like non-chain convenience stores, may require you to scan their QR code and manually enter the payment amount.


When checking out online, (like QR ordering while dining in or ordering takeout), you’ll automatically be redirected to an Alipay payment page and enter the passcode you’ve set up. 
Both options are available right at the top of the Alipay homepage.

Payment Settings 

Under “account”, you can access “payment settings” and set up a few customizable settings. “payment priority” might be useful if you’re linking multiple cards and have preferences on which one to use as a default. 

Other useful tips

Under “settings”→”general”, you will find the translation tool. I would recommend turning this on, since many “mini-apps” don’t have translations. 

For example, if you want to order from Heytea within Alipay, what might be a difficult task without Chinese knowledge is now more manageable (the UX suffers but let’s ignore that).

Alipay and WeChat have almost identical mini app availabilities. I’d recommend using Alipay simply because of the translations feature. 
The translation tool is similar to AssistiveTouch and sticks to screen wherever you are in the app.
For example, if you wanted to order a drink from Heytea ahead of time at a shopping mall, you can now translate the mini app. 


WeChat (微信)

English version available

Linking a card

  1. Download the WeChat app and register an account. You do need a phone number (can be an international one). The registration process is lengthier, so leave some time to set it up.

  2. Go to “me” → “pay and services”→”wallet”→”bank cards”, and you can link a bank card. You might need to do additional security steps on your bank card’s end and additional forms of identity verification (e.g. passport info).

  3. You can now use your linked card on WeChat. 
A similar but lengthier process compared to Alipay.

Using Wechat for payments

You can access both the scan and QR code payment methods from the home screen or under “me”->“pay and services”->”money”. How you’d make a payment is exactly the same as Alipay. 

It’s also very popular for locals to transfer money to each other from within a chat (see image). This is not possible with an international bank card, so if someone requests this, ask for their QR code instead. You can, however, receive a balance, so if you have family or friends in China, you can ask them to transfer you money this way and you will subsequently have a balance to use.  
 
Access QR code from the pay and services page, or more conveniently from the home screen (where all your chats are).
The “transfer” method within a chat only works if you have a balance, and that requires a local bank account or if someone local transfers you money. 

Payment Settings

You can arrange priority of payment methods just like Alipay under the “money” tab.
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