Foreign tourists traveling in China

    2024-11-20

Equipment

-Primary phone: a recent model cell phone with eSIM capability.
-Download Airalo app and purchase an Airalo China data eSIM. You need mobile/cellular data almost constantly for payments, ride hailing, paying taxi driver, metro ride, food, voice/camera translation, maps, etc.
-Auxillary phone that has 4G LTE Band3 1800 MHz (or 5G Band 78 for newer phones). An old phone will suffice.
-Order a prepaid physical SIM card from https://www.3gsolutions.com.cn/ with local (Chinese) phone number mainly to receive SMS/text for the duration of your trip. 3G Solutions accepts PayPal only. A 30 Day SIM card with 100 texts cost $33.50

Download and install seven apps on your primary phone

Alipay - register using passport and link a Credit Card.
WeChat - register using passport and link a Credit Card.
DiDi Ride Hailing in China - Register using your mobile phone number and link a credit card (Visa, MasterCard, etc) just like Uber.
At home, using a browser, go to https://www.12306.cn/en to create an account using your email and passport information.
Gmail is blocked in China, therefore it is better to use outlook.com or non-blocked email address. If necessary, Gmail can be used because outbound Gmail by major entity like China Railway can go out.
12306 China Rail app.
Trip.com
Translator: Apple Translate (iPhone), Google Translate (Android) or Microsoft Translator (iOS and Android).
Mobile map: Gaode Map if you can handle Chinese pinyin, otherwise Apple Map (iPhone). Google Map is blocked unless you use Airalo eSIM or other firewall bypass VPN.

What are these apps for

Alipay - mobile payments in China. Optional registration using passport data and selfies will increase the spending ceiling.
WeChat - chat (like WhatsApp) and mobile payments in China. Optional registration using passport data and selfies will increase ceiling.
DiDi - ride hailing (Uber's equivalent in China).
12306 - book China Railway's high speed train tickets for inter-city travels, e.g. Fuxing CR400AF can reach top speed of 350 km/h. You can also use trip.com
Trip.com - English-friendly online tour company that can book hotels, flights, trains, attractions.
Translator - its use is obvious: you can speak, text or use the camera for translations.
Mobile map - handy for keeping track or knowing your location while on the go.
Why use an auxillary phone? Many services and Mini-apps (e.g. food, shared bikes, airport WiFi, WiFi on high speed trains) send a SMS OTP verification code to a Chinese phone number only.

Optional - add fund to your WeChat/Alipay wallet/balance

If you have rich relatives or trusted friends from China, they can transfer money to your AliPay and WeChat Wallet face to face using QR Code scanning method. Mobile payment using funds from wallet avoids credit card's foreign transaction fees and unfavorable exchange rates. It waives the 3% service fee charged by WeChat/Alipay. Total savings can be in the order of 8%.

If you don't have rich relatives hence your wallet is zero, Alipay/WeChat can draw funds from your linked credit card. Most foreign tourists on YouTube use this method for convenience.

There are two modes of mobile payment

(1) You scan me          (2) I scan you. 

Observe what others do. There are YouTube videos about how to use mobile payments in China.


You may experience some merchants cannot accept WeChat/Alipay Visa/Master payment scheme. These issues are more pronounced in areas with few tourists. Visitors from Hong Kong and Taiwan to these areas could facilitate better integration.

Carry some cash in case the mobile payment scheme fails.

How to

Book domestic flights 
use trip.com

Book high speed trains tickets  use trip.com or 12306, booking opens 14 days in advance of travel. Popular routes fill up quickly so plan ahead to avoid disappointment. After the ticket is booked, you receive a QR Code, on the day of your travel, arrive at the station early (be sure to go to the correct station, most cities have several stations) and find a line for "passport holders" and have your passport verified by a staff. Your train ticket is linked to your passport.

Metro rides
WeChat - "Me", "Pay and Services', "Travel Service", select city from drop down (use Pinyin, e.g. Beijing), tap green icon that looks like "G", next you are in "Service Provider" page, select city from drop down (again), a QR code appears (if this is the first time you are in that city, "Go to activate", select payment method). Present the QR code to the metro turnstile scanner to enter and exit.
Alipay - At the top left corner of main screen, select city you are in. Type "metro" in the search box. Tap the subway icon (if this is the first time you are in that city, tap the Get Now icon), a QR code appears. Present the QR code to the metro turnstile scanner to enter and exit.
You can use cash (yes, cash) to buy metro ticket from ticketing machine. It only accepts small denominations. You may even find a ticket booth with a human inside.

Taxi
Taxi are found at airports and train stations. They accept cash but generally do not have cash for any change. Use your Alipay or WeChat to scan the taxi's payment QR Code. You cannot flag a taxi, as many that appear vacant are actually pre-booked via DiDi. I tested WeChat payment by scanning taxi's QR Code and paid using linked Visa card.

Ride hailing
Outside of airports and train stations, DiDi is probably the only way to hail a ride. When the ride shows up, the driver needs the last 4 digits of your phone number (the phone number you used to register the DiDi app). For example, the last 4 digits of my phone number is 4366, I use translator app's English panel and type 4366.

Hotels
If you book a hotel using trip.com and prepay using Credit Card on file, you can avoid the payment hassle at check out. Hotels in China may accept credit cards, if not, use Alipay, select "Pay using Credit Card" option. It is helpful to visualize Alipay is a credit card with a QR code instead of magstripe/EMV/NFC.

Restaurants
On restaurants table, there is a QR code, open WeChat or AliPay and scan the QR code to launch the menu. Select dishes and pay using WeChat or Alipay, the food will be delivered to you by a server or a robot.

Food stands and gift shops
Typically there is a QR code posted on the stand. Open WeChat or Alipay and scan the QR code, type in the amount to pay, the merchant will receive a confirmation on their mobile phone and give you the items or food.

Tourist attractions, theme parks, entertainment
You can use trip.com or a Mini-app inside WeChat/Alipay to pre-book attractions. Major attractions during peak seasons require 1 to 7 days advance mobile booking. Many attractions do not sell tickets at the entrance. The entrance is used to check passport and scan the QR code of pre-book tickets.

Modern China has transformed from a cash society to a cashless and QR code centric society.

Carry some cash in case the mobile payment scheme fails.