For the past ten days my journey across China has been an amazing experience. The country is vast, yet its infrastructure is fantastic1, making it surprisingly convenient to explore. However, as a European, I found navigating daily life challenging. Here are the tips and tricks that made my trip smooth.
Travel Essentials
I found a smartphone, passport, credit cards, and an unrestricted SIM card mandatory, in that order.
I believe traveling in China is nearly impossible without a smartphone. Over the last two weeks, I averaged 4 hours and 45 minutes of daily screen time on my iPhone - triple my average back home. I used my phone to board public transport, hail taxis, check into hotels, order food, and pay for almost everything. Sufficient battery life became a major concern. Even though my iPhone 16 is only six months old, I quickly bought a portable battery for peace of mind.
Unsurprisingly, a passport is required to enter the country. But I used mine more frequently here than on any other trip. It was required to authenticate my accounts on Alipay and WeChat, the two essential apps for life in China. I also used it as my ticket to board high-speed rail and natural parks.
Credit cards were mandatory for me in Hongkong and Macao, where I couldn't use Alipay or WeChat; the apps are geo-restricted to mainland China.
Lastly, the Great Firewall makes typical Western smartphone usage impossible. Google services (Maps, Gmail, Search, Translate, Photos, Drive) are blocked, along with messaging apps like WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram. ChatGPT and Gemini also don’t work. I got an eSIM card from trip.com2 that works in Hongkong, Macau, and mainland China. It conveniently sidesteps the Great Firewall.
Essential Apps
Alipay and WeChat are non-negotiable. The two apps each serve a primary purpose, while also acting as a platform for mini-programs. Alipay started as a payment app and WeChat as a messenger. After registering my credit card with the apps, payments work by scanning QR codes or tapping NFC panels. Didi, China's Uber, is integrated into Alipay, so once payments worked, I was able to hail rides, too. The same goes for food delivery, public transportation tickets, a messenger, a TikTok-like feature, and restaurant ordering.
WeChat is similar, but I preferred Alipay for its better internationalization. However, I found WeChat offered a richer experience for ordering food in restaurants, displaying useful coupons that Alipay did not.
Navigating China's vast cities is another challenge. Although Google Maps loads with the right eSIM, it's rendered unreliable by Chinese GPS obfuscation. Apple Maps works behind the Great Firewall but can't provide navigation. I found Amap to be the most useful Chinese alternative. The app felt clumsy and is worse than Google Maps at finding nearby grocery stores or ATMs. However, Amap is aware of traffic lights' states when navigating by car, showing countdowns until the next phase begins - mind-blowing. It also works reliably for finding subway connections and navigating on foot.
An honorable mention is trip.com . I used their website to purchase high-speed rail tickets, which was very convenient for a small fee per ticket.3 I also booked several hotels through them. Cancellations were hassle-free, and the app was intuitive. The only negative was that they didn't notify me when a train connection was canceled and they couldn't reserve my ticket. Still, I can recommend them.
- I’m traveling at 300km/h on a butter-smooth Bullet Train ride from Chongqing to Zhangjiajie writing this.↩
- I went with the variant that gives you 2Gb of data per day. That was completely enough for my purposes, I don’t stream videos though. You may need more data volume in that case. Note however that the trip.com eSIM does not contain a Chinese phone number, which is required for some apps.↩
- There’s also klook which does the same as Trip.com. I found their customer support poor and cannot recommend using the app.↩
