Everything you need to know before setting foot in China—from cultural norms to travel essentials.
The smart phone is the most important thing in Chinese life. Everything is online.
Network
As for some political reasons, you can‘t use apps like Google/Twitter/Instagram etc. There are several options:
- Buy esim if your phone support.
- Enable roaming. Use network like in your country. Everything is working. But maybe the price of roaming is expensive.
- Buy a pocket wifi.
- Buy a VPN. With VPN, you can access any website or apps as usual. But VPN is illegal in China, so every VPN is not stable and will be baned anytime.
- You need buy a SIM card for basic network.
- Or connect to free wifi in shop or store, many shops in China provide a free wifi.
Apps you must download
- WeChat, the most commonly used chat app, all in one app
- Chat
- Pay money through this app
- Share location with others
- Book or buy attraction tickets
- Alipay, payment app
- Amap, map app
- 12306, national railway apps, you can buy railway tickets through this app
- didi, Chinese Uber
Payment and money
People rarely use cash, especially in big cities, like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. So you don’t need exchange much cash. All you need is attach your credit card in WeChat or Alipay.