Preparing For China: 30 Essential Things To Know Before Your Trip

Planning a trip to China is unlike any other trip I’ve planned. It requires a TON more research.

But the one thing that made it so much harder? It was SO hard to find any trip planning content on China.

Planning my three-week trip to China was one of the most frustrating experiences I’ve ever had regarding travel. Seriously, I’m not even exaggerating.

To spare you the pain that I experienced, I’ve created a guide that covers all the essential things you need to know if you’re planning your very own trip to China. This guide contains juicy tidbits on:

• all the must-have apps you need to survive in China
• what eSIM you should be using for your trip
• what you need to know about booking advance tickets (trains, tourist attractions, etc.)
• tips on how to save big money at restaurants
• things that you need to know about the local customs

This post may contain affiliate links. You won’t be paying a cent more, but in the event of a sale, the small affiliate commission I receive will help keep this blog running/pumping out useful and free content. Thanks a lot!

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Essential Apps For Your China Trip: The Details

1. Alipay

China is super digitalized. People rarely use cash. They use Alipay (and WeChat) instead.

Alipay is China’s go-to app for payments, from luxury stores to grocery stores and restaurants to even street food vendors. Alipay can also help with a ton of other stuff like ride-hailing, taking the subway, scanning QR code menus at restaurants, paying restaurant bills, and more.

If you’re in China, not having Alipay is like showing up without cash.

ACTION ITEM: Verify your identity with your passport and connect your credit card before entering China. If you wait til the last minute or do it when you’re in China, it might glitch and make things more annoying for you.

You don’t need to fill your ‘wallet’ in the app. Just pay by scanning the vendor’s QR code or have them scan yours. Your credit card will be charged for these payments.

Other features you’ll probably be using the most:

• The built-in Google translation app – I love this because it reduces the need for a ton of separate apps on your phone.
• The built-in DiDi Travel app – China’s version of Uber.
• The Transport feature (metro QR code) – With Alipay, you don’t need to buy physical train tickets — just activate the metro card QR for every city you enter and scan it when entering the metro. (Note: Be sure to activate the QR for the current city you’re in; otherwise, it won’t work.)
• Scan feature (Scanning menus at restaurants) – Many places have a QR code in place of physical menus. Alipay allows you to order and pay without interacting with the servers whatsoever.

NOTE: On rare occasions, Alipay will refuse to work for payments. Have a second form of payment on hand as backup (cash or WeChat). Over 98% of our payments went through Alipay without issues.

2. WeChat

Most of us probably know WeChat as a messaging app. In China, it’s way more than this. WeChat is also part social media and part payment method.

Most tourists will use WeChat to pay for things and scan menus, similar to Alipay.

It’ll also be the primary way to connect with and communicate with any locals you meet along your trip (this includes contacting your hotel, making appointments, booking services, etc.). We personally used it for our travel group chat (since WhatsApp is banned in China).

Download WeChat in addition to Alipay. In the cases where Alipay glitches or chooses not to work (it probably will happen to you at some point too!), you’ll have WeChat as a backup payment method.

ACTION ITEM: The process is pretty similar — verify your identity and connect your credit card. You don’t need to fill your ‘wallet’ with local currency. Just pay with the QR code.

As of mid-2023, they’ve made this app WAY more foreigner-friendly. You no longer need to verify yourself with the help of two pre-existing WeChat users. That tedious process is gone!

WeChat also has an in-app translation feature, which makes it much easier to communicate with Chinese people through text. (Like making massage appointments, haircut appointments, contacting your tour guide, etc.)

Things we used WeChat for:

• Texting each other in our family group chat
• Checking our place in line after grabbing a number at popular restaurants
• “Following” and joining the mailing lists of retail businesses for first-time user coupons
• While it was also supposed to be our backup payment method, I never once needed it during my 3 weeks in China.

3. A maps app

Half of us here are probably accustomed to using Google Maps. If you’ve tried looking up China destinations during your trip planning, you’ll notice that Google Maps is spotty and subpar.

In fact, Google Maps is outdated and entirely offset, so using it for navigation is going to be a problem in China. This means that any location within Google Maps will be slightly off by about 200 meters. Not helpful when you’re looking for the entrance of a specific restaurant or museum.

Go with Apple Maps instead — we love it! While I can’t speak for all of China, I can say that it worked perfectly in all of the destinations we visited (Shenzhen, Xi’an, Chengdu, and Chongqing).

We used it for walking directions and for accessing public transportation info (routes, costs, and timetables), including which subway exit # to get off at. This complete version of Apple Maps is only available while you are in China.

If you’re traveling with people who can read/write Chinese, Gaodeditu (高德地图) is a highly recommended app. Even better than Apple Maps. Right now, it’s in Chinese only, but it operates exactly like Google Maps.

If you want to find good spots to eat, translate into Chinese the type of food you’re interested in, and use the maps app to look at restaurant ratings. 

Kind of a pain in the butt that it’s all in Chinese, but it works really well if you are traveling with people who can read Chinese!

To download, search for “gaode map” in your app store. The name might be in Chinese, but the app’s logo is a blue paper plane.

4. DiDi

DiDi is China’s Uber alternative and the easiest way to get around cities. DiDi offers ride-hailing, carpooling, and even chauffeur services at extremely affordable rates.

For our trip to China, we traveled as a group of 4, which made the cost of calling a car (instead of taking public transportation) so much more worth it.

It’s a must-have app if you want a quick, reliable way to get from point A to B without relying on taxis or dealing with language barriers—most drivers use navigation in-app, so minimal communication is needed.

Pro Tip: If you have the standalone DiDi app, link it to Alipay or WeChat for smooth, cash-free payments. Otherwise, Alipay has a built-in DiDi mini app you can access to call for rides.

5. Trip.com

Trip.com is like China’s version of Expedia, Viator, Klook, Trainline, and TikTok for travel planning — all rolled up into one.

This website (and app) covers flights, trains, hotels, and even local tours.

For our 3-week China trip, we used it to book 3 hotels, all of our high-speed train rides, and most of our activities which included dinner shows, face-changing shows, Chengdu Giant Panda Base tickets, Terracotta Warriors entry tickets, and other tourist sites.

Yes, there are a bunch of other international apps you can use to find flights, hotels, and tours, but Trip.com is so much more comprehensive for China.

For hotels, you’ll find so many more China-specific options that international apps often don’t have (like this super nice aparthotel we booked in Shenzhen for 6 nights). Most times, room rates are actually cheaper than your average hotel aggregator site (Expedia, Booking.com, Hotels.com, etc.)

For attractions and tickets, Trip.com is one of the only sites that does NOT require a Mainland China phone number to make advance reservations/purchases.

The site is in English, so you’ll have no issues navigating through it and booking tickets/hotels. It’s a little clunkier compared to some of the super streamlined/user-friendly apps we’re used to, but it gets the job done.

6. Translation App (Your Choice)

If you have an international eSIM that allows you to bypass the firewall, you can stick with Google Translate.

Google Translate’s offline download feature allows you to translate things into Mandarin and vice versa even when you don’t have internet access.

It has a text mode and a conversation mode. You can use its camera function to translate menus and signs in real-time too.

We also like Baidu Translate because you can speak English and it’ll translate what you say into Chinese.

7. 大众点评 (Dàzhòng Diǎnpíng)

Having trouble researching restaurants and non-touristy things to do?

I totally get it—browsing the travel websites recommended by Google sucked. The same historical attractions and temples were being recommended. Where were the hidden gems, the hip neighborhoods, and the local spots???

I ended up discovering two apps that made it easy to find those local spots that most travel sites don’t mention: Trip.com and 大众点评 (Dàzhòng Diǎnpíng).

I already mentioned Trip.com for booking tickets and hotels, but it’s also a go-to for travel info and recommendations (there are user-generated videos categorized by city, user ratings and reviews for places, and even tips in English).

大众点评, known as the “Chinese Yelp,” is where locals rate everything from street food stalls to niche shops, and it has insider details you’d miss otherwise.

Even though it’s mostly in Chinese, there is a translation feature (though it’s not perfect by any means). Reading the translations is sometimes tough and not all pages translate into English, but I personally think it’s more valuable to have than not.

I used this app SO much during my trip. Here are some scenarios I used it for:

• Browsing through popular restaurants to decide where to eat
• At a restaurant, seeing what special set menu options and promotions are offered before ordering
• Looking up spas and comparing them based on their special offers
• Watching other people’s content (organized by city) to decide on additional places to visit

All set with everything from the above? Move on to the next section, which covers what you need to know once you’re in China.

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China Travel Tips: Essential Things To Know Before You Go

Depending on what country you’re from, you may need a visa to visit.

I’m from the USA and for my trip in 2024, I needed a visa. I opted for the 10-year visa since it was the same cost as the 3-month visa.

I created a whole guide to getting visas in the USA, which you can find here.

The Chinese tourism landscape is changing so rapidly these days, so it’s best to do some extra research to see what the latest travel requirements are.

There’s a thing called the Great Firewall. No Google, no Facebook, no TikTok, etc.

China’s internet is heavily restricted by what’s known as the “Great Firewall,” which blocks popular western sites we’re all accustomed to. This is part of the government’s control over online content.

This includes Gmail, Google, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitch, Reddit, LinkedIn, NYT, Discord, etc. You can check out the whole list here.

You have two choices.

• Live without them for the duration of your trip (you can use Bing for searches)
• Get an international eSIM to bypass the firewall

To get past the firewall, get an international eSIM for your phone.

eSIM research is such a beast to tackle. After hours and hours of deep research for my own trip, here are my takeaways to save you time.

An international eSIM will bypass the Great Firewall, which means you will be able to access Western websites on your phone.

Do not get an eSIM from within China. Otherwise, you’ll be blocked from all your international faves (those sites listed above).

Hong Kong-based providers are fine. In fact, they are way cheaper than Western-based eSIM providers.

I went with 3HK, a Hong Kong-based provider because it was one of the best values when I was comparing eSIM options. Hong Kong SIMs will give you access to most of the Western apps. This is the data plan I got: 30-Day Pass – Greater Bay Area 30GB.

Even though I love Airalo myself, I found them to be pretty expensive compared to local HK eSIM options. Having said that, tons of travelers to China have used Airalo and have reported great data coverage/internet access. Airalo has fewer restrictions compared to HK-based providers (i.e. TikTok, ChatGPT).

The bottom line: If you get an eSIM anywhere outside of China, you’ll be able to access Google, YouTube, Facebook, IG, and most of the other restricted apps while in Mainland China.

Bringing a laptop? Get a VPN or try hotspotting.

If you need to do heavy computer work with internet access while in China, you’ll want a VPN.

LetsVPN is a highly recommended VPN provider. While I avoided using my laptop in China (so that I didn’t need to buy a VPN), many travelers reported that LetsVPN works perfectly throughout China without issues.

You can also try hot-spotting with your eSIM data to access firewalled sites on your laptop. I did this a few times with my phone’s eSIM to check Google Flights and it worked perfectly.

Don’t connect to the wifi in China if you need to access blocked sites.

Connecting to regular Wi-Fi networks (yes, even at your hotel) will block sites like Google, Facebook, or Instagram as they’re subject to the country’s internet restrictions.

You can either use a VPN or just use your eSIM data the whole time. If you don’t plan on guzzling data throughout your trip, I find the latter to be the cheaper option.

Switching to an eSIM won’t log you out of Alipay or WeChat.

In regards to Alipay and WeChat, don’t worry about potentially resetting anything after activating your eSIM or SIM card. You won’t be asked to re-log in on your device.

For many tourist attractions, you will need a Chinese phone number to purchase tickets in advance.

Booking things through Trip.com allows you to bypass the need for a Chinese phone number! It was practically the only app we used to book tickets.

When I first got to China, I tried to book Splendid China Folk Village tickets on Klook (an Asia-based attraction website), and even that required a Chinese phone number. It was a failed mission.

Trip.com is the headache-free way to go when it comes to advanced tickets and bookings. We booked our train tickets and admission tickets to Terracotta Warriors, Chengdu Panda Base, and much more on there.

Book your seats for high-speed trains at least two weeks in advance, if possible.

This is especially important if your trip coincides with the busy travel season in China (Chinese New Year: Late Jan to Feb, Golden Week: first week of Oct, Summer: July-Aug).

We booked all of our train travel through Trip.com about 1 month before the trip. The train tickets aren’t technically available yet at this point, but Trip.com allows you to pre-book tickets (~2 months prior).

Once the tickets are officially released, Trip.com will handle the transaction for you and send you your travel confirmation info.

During peak travel seasons, avoid sightseeing on the weekends.

China is a MASSIVE country (1.4 billion people!). On weekdays, Chinese people are likely working their day jobs. On weekends, they’ve got all the time in the world to do things, travel, and go sightseeing too.

Avoid the historical sites on weekends during the summer months, Chinese New Year, and Golden Week.

As a matter of fact, just avoid China altogether during Golden Week (October 1-7th). Unless you love crowds, long lines, and chaos.

If you’re visiting in the fall season, avoid doing touristy attractions on weekdays.

During the month of November specifically, the kids of China are on field trips EVERYWHERE.

We’re talking throngs and throngs of them, all from different schools, converging at tourist attractions.

We were in the Guangdong province in mid-November and encountered massive waves of children at both Guangdong Romance Park and Shenzhen’s Splendid China Folk Village.

Their constant chatter, running around, and leaving garbage everywhere made our experience much less special. In fact, we’d even go as far as to say that it ruined our experience altogether.

If you visit in the fall season and don’t want to experience kids running around everywhere, aim for weekends. Otherwise, after December would be a much better time to do touristy things.

Pack a universal adapter with you.

Some Chinese sockets allow US plugs. If not, just bring a universal travel adapter (I use this one). Mainland China is 220v/50c.

Look at all of the devices you plan on taking and see if it is compatible. If it says 110V – 240V, 50Hz/60Hz you are okay to plug this straight into the outlet. If it only says 110V/60Hz, it won’t work and you’ll need an adapter for this.

These days, modern laptop and phone chargers are multi-voltage compatible. Apple products will charge fine without an adapter.

China has 2-prong plugs (the same as the ones in the US), so you can just plug your US Apple stuff into the 2-prong plug sockets in China. You’ll occasionally find 3-prong sockets, but most hotels would have 2-prong and USB outlets for you.

Still, make sure you check the labels on all your devices/chargers because there are rare exceptions.

Crime is generally very low.

Chinese people are very crime adverse. There is CCTV everywhere and security/police in public places to maintain order (such as at train stations and even on trains themselves).

Here’s a real-life example: My aunt accidentally forgot her tote bag at a rickshaw we were taking photos at. Twenty minutes later, she realized she left it so we went back to find it. It was right where she left it!

Having said that, it’s still good to stay vigilant and travel with all your favorite anti-theft bags because you never know what could happen.

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China Travel Tips: What To Know While You’re In China

Bring your passport with you everywhere you go.

When booking tickets, taking the train, checking into hotels, etc., you will need your full name and passport number. Everything is tied to your passport.

In a lot of cases (tourist attractions, trains, etc,) you will NOT receive a ticket, but be asked to present your passport at the entrance — your passport acts as your ticket.

Be sure to keep your passport in a safe spot when you’re carrying it around.

Good food is everywhere; you don’t really need to plan out your meals.

If you’re going to a big city like Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an, Chengdu, Shenzhen, etc., you don’t really need to preplan for places to eat.

There are so many eateries to choose from (train stations, malls, standalone restaurants, etc.) and the cuisines are from all over the world, too.

For example, in Shenzhen, we walked the underground city and stumbled upon all kinds of eateries: hotpot eateries, Northern China noodle shops, HK-style cafes, conveyor belt sushi, ramen shops, Sukiya from Japan, McDonald’s, and so much more.

Above ground, the number of restaurants is even more endless.

If something piques your interest, just type the restaurant name into Dazhong Dianping or Apple Maps and check the restaurant rating score. If it looks good, give it a try!

You’ll find so many food discounts on Dazhong Dianping.

Once you’ve set your sights on a restaurant, head to Dazhong Dianping and check out what set menu discounts and offers that restaurant has.

At the time of writing, the set menu offers within the app are written in Chinese and the in-app translator doesn’t translate this section of the app.

If you can read Chinese, you’re in the best position in the world. Scanning through the deals won’t be a problem for you.

If you can’t read Chinese, you’ll need to take screenshots or use another phone to take pictures of the text in order to translate the offers. Hopefully, by the time you read this, the app will have been updated to translate the menus and offers into English!

👉 Pro Tip: The deals don’t just stop at restaurants. You’ll also find discounts at teahouses, spas, costume shops, etc.

China is fully digital for the most part.

The country is so much further along with technology compared to many other countries in the world.

You don’t need physical tickets for any of the day-to-day touristy stuff (train, attractions, metro, shopping, paying bills at restaurants, etc.). Cash isn’t widely used either, but places do still accept it.

Even street food vendors take digital payments.

You can carry some cash with you for peace of mind (we did), but we could have gone without any cash at all.

Don’t expect there to be toilet paper, soap, or paper towels in all bathrooms.

Sometimes, there will be soap and no toilet paper; sometimes, there’ll be toilet paper and no soap by the sinks, or sometimes, there will be none at all.

Most of the time, there are no paper towels after you wash your hands, so it’s best to bring a personal hand towel or extra paper towels with you instead of drying them on your clothes.

In bathrooms where there is no soap, we like to bring travel soap sheets with us to use (soap and water just feels cleaner than spritzing hand sanitizer after using the restroom).

Squat toilets are not uncommon, so get used to them.

Some restrooms have one or two Western-style toilet stalls, but the majority will be squat toilets.

You’ll usually find a picture on the door that shows you the type of toilet you’ll find in the stall.

If you do find yourself in a restroom with squat-only options, make sure you’re wearing pants or shorts so you can easily slip them off for the squat action. Dresses work well too.

If you decide to wear long pants, pants with a fitted ankle rather than a wide leg would work best. Otherwise, you risk the chance of your pants dipping on the floor, ew.

Rompers, jumpsuits, and complicated bodysuits are not the way to go on a day of sightseeing.

Prepared to spend a good amount of time in shopping malls.

Malls are not just places to shop. They also happen to have the best restrooms and free air conditioning!

Similar to our travels in Bangkok and Hong Kong, malls filled up a good chunk of our itinerary whenever we found downtime. They’re great for using the bathroom, sitting to rest your weary legs, and cooling off.

Malls in China also happen to be super cool and high-tech, so there’s sightseeing to be done in them too! Sometimes, you’ll find design architecture and waterfalls in malls; other times, you’ll find cute sculptures of animals at mall entrances.

Don’t expect people in China to speak or understand English.

The English proficiency is very low in China. Chances are, you’ll rely on your translation app quite a bit.

At the higher-end shops and super touristy areas, there is usually at least one person who can speak some sort of English.

Within China’s big cities, there is a decent amount of English on signs.

Because of this taking public transportation and getting around on foot is pretty easy.

Figuring out where to go/what lines to get in at tourist attractions is also pretty doable without having to speak to anyone.

For high-speed train rides, get to the train stations early.

The train stations in China are a lot larger than you can imagine. Some are larger than others, so you’ll wanna get there with enough time to find where you need to go.

I’d recommend showing up 45 minutes to an hour before departure time.

Once at the station, you just need to scan your passport in the foreign queue machine, and you’ll be let in. If the machine does not recognize your passport, just find an employee to manually verify your passport.

For regular metro rides within a city, use your Alipay metro card.

Whenever you change cities, you’ll need to activate the metro card for that specific city within Alipay (transport tab > select city > get pass).

You’ll then have a QR code that you scan in and out of each station. No physical ticket or card required!

You’ll have to go through security checks when you enter the train stations.

That means putting your belongings through an X-ray machine (similar to the ones at airport security).

If you have any water on you, hand it to the security staff instead of putting it on the conveyor belt.

The process takes less than 15 seconds so even though it is an extra step, it isn’t really hindering in any major way. It was annoying at first, but we got used to the process rather quickly.

Expect different types of cuisine in different regions of China.

‘Chinese food’ is not just one category of food. It’s more of an umbrella term that encompasses hundreds of different cuisine types.

In the Sichuan province, you can expect lots of spicy and mala food. Hot pot is really big in that part of China. Hunan cuisine is known for its fiery and bold flavors, featuring generous use of chili peppers, garlic, and shallots.

Meanwhile, in the Guangdong area (where Cantonese-style cooking is more of a staple), you can expect lots of seafood, fresh fish, goose, and tofu specialties. Fujian cuisine is another style, famous for its ingredients from the coast and the mountains.

And we’ve barely just scratched the surface! Wherever you end up in China, make it a point to have at least one meal that showcases local cuisine with local ingredients.

Most drinks in China are served warm or room temp.

At almost all the Chinese restaurants you’ll encounter, the standard is a pot of hot water and a pot of tea.

In the Chinese culture, cold drinks are bad for the body — it’s true! My mom doesn’t really like it when we drink ice water in the USA either.

Ask for ‘bing’ (cold/ice) to get a cold version of whatever you’re drinking.

The same goes for Chinese desserts! You can usually get them hot or cold.

Chinese phrases that’ll come in handy:

• “Duo shao qian?” means “How much?” – Use this to ask the price of anything.
• “[Place you want to go] zai na li?” means “Where is [place]?” – Perfect for asking for directions.
• “Ting bu dong” means “I don’t understand.” – Use this if you’re lost in translation.
• “Yi bei shui” means “A cup of water.” – Most drinks come at room temp. To ask for cold water, say “bing shui” (cold water) instead of “shui” (water).
• “Jie zhang” means “Check, please.” – For when you’re ready to pay at a restaurant.
• “Xie xie” means “Thank you.”
• “La bu la?” means “Spicy or not spicy?”. Want spicy? Say “La”. No spice? “Bu la”.
• “Bu yao” means “do not want” – Will come in handy for street vendors.

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