Essential Apps

Why install these before you arrive

Most of the apps you rely on at home — Google Maps, Gmail, WhatsApp, Instagram — are blocked in mainland China unless you arrive with a working VPN or a foreign eSIM. The practical answer is not to fight that, but to install the local equivalents before you board the plane, while your app store, phone number, and bank cards all still work normally. Several of these apps also involve identity or card verification steps that are far easier to complete at home than over hotel Wi-Fi on arrival day.

What these seven apps cover

The apps listed here cover the situations every visitor runs into. WeChat and Alipay handle mobile payments — both accept foreign Visa and Mastercard, and between them they have replaced cash almost everywhere. Amap provides navigation with an English interface that actually works in China, where Google Maps data is unreliable. DiDi is the standard ride-hailing app, 12306 is the official channel for train tickets, and Meituan and Ele.me cover food delivery and restaurant deals. Each app page explains whether you can register with an overseas phone number, which steps need a passport or a foreign card, and the common setup failures to expect.

How this fits with the guides

App pages focus on installation, registration, and the screens you will actually see; the travel guides explain the systems behind them. If you are starting from zero: install WeChat and Alipay and bind a card using the mobile payment guide, decide how you will get online with the VPN-or-eSIM decision guide, then add the rest based on your itinerary. The pre-departure checklist sequences all of this into a single list you can work through before your flight.