The 13 apps I’d install before flying to China
Photo: Brett Jordan / Unsplash
I keep the full list, with official download links, on its own page so I can update it when apps change. Open the app list. This post is the short version, plus the setup mistake I see most with each one.
If you only install five
- Alipay. Pays for almost everything, and has taxis and metro codes built in. Common mistake: adding your card after you land. Link it and finish the passport check at home, while your bank's verification texts still reach you. If it won't link, here are the four usual causes.
- WeChat. Messaging, plus a second way to pay. Common mistake: registering at the last minute. New accounts sometimes need an existing user to verify you, so do it a week or two before you go.
- Amap. The map that actually works here. Alibaba added an English version in early 2025 and 14 more languages that July, according to the Shanghai government. Common mistake: relying on Google Maps, which is often out of date or unavailable.
- Trip.com. Trains, hotels and attraction tickets in English. Common mistake: leaving trains until the day. Popular routes sell out, especially around holidays.
- Google Translate. Text, voice and camera. Common mistake: not downloading the offline Chinese pack before you fly. You'll want it most when you have no signal.
Why the setup matters
In 2024 the South China Morning Post reported on a Singapore-based investor who couldn't pay at small restaurants on a multi-city trip, because the QR codes belonged to individuals and his foreign-card-linked WeChat Pay wouldn't pay them. Local friends covered him. By September 2026, the same paper followed a Croatian couple who paid for most of a three-week trip by phone after a bit of early confusion.
My take: the apps have caught up. What still catches people out is doing the setup on airport Wi-Fi, jet-lagged, with a queue behind them. Have a roaming eSIM working before you board, and do everything else at home.
The other eight, in one line each
- DiDi: taxis, also available inside Alipay. See using DiDi.
- Railway 12306: the official train app, with an English version.
- Dianping: restaurant reviews. Chinese only, so use your camera translator.
- NIA 12367: official immigration info and online registration.
- Baidu Maps: a second opinion when Amap looks odd.
- Meituan: food delivery. Chinese only; ordering through Alipay is easier at first.
- RedNote (Xiaohongshu): search a neighborhood to see where locals actually go.
- Pleco: point your camera at a character and get a dictionary entry.
Install them all on the same day, open each once, and log in. An app you've never opened is an app you'll be setting up with no signal.
Sources: Shanghai government, Jul 2025; South China Morning Post, Feb 2024; South China Morning Post, Sep 2026.
If something here has changed, email me. I re-check every guide and update the date at the top.
Written by David, who lives in China. About me