China travel · 出行
China is one of the easiest countries in the world to travel — once you're set up. It is also almost entirely cashless, app-first, and sitting behind the Great Firewall, which quietly breaks the apps you rely on everywhere else.
None of it is hard, but almost all of it has to be done before you fly — the payment apps, the VPN, the maps. An hour of prep at home saves a lot of standing-at-the-counter pain later. Here's the whole checklist.
Start here
If you read nothing else, do these five things before you get on the plane. Everything below is just the detail.
Set up mobile payments
Link your Visa or Mastercard inside both Alipay and WeChat Pay. China pays by QR code, not card or cash.
Sort out internet access
Install a VPN and consider a roaming eSIM before you land — both get you past the Great Firewall, and you can't download a VPN once you're there.
Download the daily-life apps
Amap or Apple Maps, DiDi for taxis, Trip.com for trains, and a translator with offline Chinese packs.
Pack your passport everywhere
You need it to buy train tickets, check into hotels, and verify the payment apps — carry it, don't leave it in the room.
Learn ten phrases
A handful of words — 你好, 谢谢, 多少钱 — go a long way in a country where little English is spoken.
Money
This is the single most important thing to do before you go. In most Chinese cities you'll pay for everything — meals, taxis, metro, a bottle of water — by scanning a QR code, and a lot of small vendors take neither cash nor foreign cards.
The good news, and it's relatively recent: as of 2026 both Alipay (支付宝) and WeChat Pay (微信) let foreign visitors link an international Visa, Mastercard or JCB card with nothing more than a passport — no Chinese bank account, no local phone number required. You verify your identity with a photo of your passport, usually in under ten minutes.
Alipay also offers Tour Pass (旅行通), a prepaid wallet you top up once with your foreign card and then spend down in yuan. It converts a lump sum at one exchange rate instead of triggering your bank's foreign transaction fee on every bubble tea, which can add up over a two-week trip. Balances are refundable and expire after about 90 days.
Access
China blocks most of the Western internet at the network level. If your plans quietly assume Google Maps, Gmail or WhatsApp, they'll break the moment you connect to a Chinese network.
The blocked list is long and includes almost everything you'd reach for by reflex:
The classic fix is a VPN, and you should still install and test one before you arrive — the app stores that carry them are themselves blocked inside China, so downloading one after you land is the one thing you can't do. Be aware that a 2026 government crackdown knocked many consumer VPNs offline; the ones that still connect can be slow or intermittent, so don't rely on a single app.
The more reliable route for most travellers is now a roaming eSIM or an international roaming plan — covered next — which sidesteps the firewall entirely rather than tunnelling through it.
Connectivity
You want a working connection before you leave the airport — to call a car, load a map, and message home. Sort it out before you fly.
A roaming eSIM is the simplest option, and it has a useful side effect: your phone connects to a Chinese tower for signal, but your data exits through a foreign network in Hong Kong, Singapore or beyond. Because your traffic never travels the mainland internet, the Great Firewall never sees it — Google, WhatsApp and Instagram simply work, with no VPN needed. International roaming from your home carrier behaves the same way.
Buy and install the eSIM before you enter China — activation pages can themselves be blocked once you're there. A local Chinese SIM is cheaper for long stays but requires passport registration and, on its own, sits inside the firewall like everything else.
Apps
China runs on a handful of super-apps. Download and sign in to all of them at home — Google Play and the local stores are awkward or blocked once you're behind the firewall.
Messaging + paymentswēi xìn
The one app you can't skip — messaging, WeChat Pay, mini-programs for almost everything. Set up WeChat Pay with your card before you land.
Paymentszhī fù bǎo
The other essential wallet, and the friendlier one for tourists. Link a foreign card or load the prepaid Tour Pass; it also hosts English mini-programs for the metro, DiDi and translation.
Mapsgāo dé dì tú
The maps app locals use, with an English UI in settings and live transit. Apple Maps also works well in China; Google Maps is blocked and unreliable.
Ride-hailingdī dī
China's Uber. Pays from your linked card and shows an English interface — or hail a ride from the DiDi mini-program inside Alipay without a separate app.
Travel bookingxié chéng
Flights, hotels and train tickets in English for foreigners. Books high-speed rail with just your passport and a foreign card — the easy route around 12306's sign-up.
Trains
The official China Railway app. Its English version books high-speed rail by passport; verify your passport in advance, as manual review can take a few days.
Language
Download offline Chinese packs before you go — Google Translate needs a VPN inside China. Microsoft Translator, Baidu Translate (百度翻译) and Pleco all work offline for menus and signs.
Language
For reading real Chinese rather than just translating it: Pleco is the pocket dictionary, MandarinAI turns the words you actually meet into daily spaced-repetition practice.
Food + reviewsměi tuán / dà zhòng diǎn píng
Food delivery and restaurant reviews — China's DoorDash and Yelp. Mostly Chinese-only, so pair them with your translation app, but unbeatable for finding where to eat.
Transport
Public transport is fast, cheap and easy — the trick is that it all runs through the same apps and the same passport.
City metros take a QR code you generate in Alipay or WeChat (look for the city's transit mini-program) or in Amap — scan in, scan out, no ticket machine, no cash. It's the same routine in every major city.
For high-speed rail, book through the official 12306 app or, more easily, through Trip.com, both of which sell tickets to foreigners on a passport. Your passport is your ticket: at most stations you tap or scan it at the gate, or show it in the staffed lane. Verify your passport in the app a few days ahead, as manual identity checks can take time.
On the ground
The small, unglamorous things that catch first-time visitors out.
Language
Outside big hotels and tourist sites, English is rare. You don't need to be fluent — these fifteen phrases carry you through shopping, eating, and getting unstuck.
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 你好 | nǐ hǎo | Hello |
| 谢谢 | xiè xie | Thank you |
| 请问 | qǐng wèn | Excuse me… (may I ask) |
| 多少钱？ | duō shǎo qián | How much is it? |
| 太贵了 | tài guì le | Too expensive |
| 这个 | zhè ge | This one |
| 我要这个 | wǒ yào zhè ge | I want this one |
| 不要 | bú yào | No / I don't want it |
| 一点点 | yì diǎn diǎn | Just a little |
| 好吃 | hǎo chī | Delicious |
| 买单 / 结账 | mǎi dān / jié zhàng | The bill, please |
| 洗手间在哪里？ | xǐ shǒu jiān zài nǎ lǐ | Where's the bathroom? |
| 我不会说中文 | wǒ bú huì shuō zhōng wén | I don't speak Chinese |
| 你会说英文吗？ | nǐ huì shuō yīng wén ma | Do you speak English? |
| 再见 | zài jiàn | Goodbye |
FAQ
Planning the language side of your trip? Start with our Chinese learning guides, or browse the internet slang you'll see all over Chinese social media.