All the apps you need to Have for a successful trip to China

I already established in “Things that surprised my in China”, the country is very tech savvy and operates differently than anywhere else. Your phone will be useless unless you adapt and get the right apps to go around, pay, eat and sleep without worry.

Here are all the apps I advise you to get when you are going to China.

WeChat (Weixin)

WeChat (Weixin) app logo

This is the must-have app. It does pretty much everything. On this app, you can:

Chat
Call
Pay using QR Code
Book hotels and restaurants
Book train tickets
Ride the bus and metro (subway/underground)
Book all attractions
Use the translator (highly recommend as it is a very accurate translator)
And countless other features (like booking an acupuncture session)…

It is a multi-use app and without it, life will quickly become a struggle. You can sign up with a foreign phone number however, you will not be able to use certain features without a Chinese phone number and/or ID.

In order to use the app, it will request quite a few details from you such as your passport number, address, date of birth and all sorts of personal details. This is how everything links up together and how tickets you book for attractions are linked to your passport hence having to only ever scan it everywhere you go.

The app can also hold money in a specific account that you can transfer from any foreign bank account and withdraw back upon your return to your home country. This is how you are able to pay by scanning the Weixin QR code at any restaurant, coffee shops, hotels etc. The amount you owe will be directly deducted from this account. All places have a QR code and a little device that confirms payment almost immediately, making the whole process worry-free and efficient.

WeChat is called Weixin in China.

AliPay

AliPay app logo

This is a very similar app to WeChat except you cannot communicate with others or place calls with it. It works the same way as WeChat for payment. I strongly suggest you to have this app set up and ready to go on your phone just in case. In certain places, we were not able to scan the QR Code with the WeChat app and had to use AliPay instead. This applied particularly at the metro tickets machines.

Have a bit of money resting in your AliPay account in case the WeChat app lets you down.

Trip.com

This is a booking app mostly. You can book all hotels, attractions and transportation on there. E-sims are also available on this app.

The difference in booking with this app is that it has a lot of discounts available and operates with dynamic pricing which makes sense in China. The less busy, the cheaper it is. You also have a very late cancellation policy if plans change. You can earn points and cashback to redeem every time you book through the app. Highly recommend for hotels mainly and if you want to go to the Great Wall of China. We booked our tickets for it on trip.com and could not have been happier with it.

Amap

This is the Google Maps of China. Google Maps is highly unreliable but also not allowed in the country and quite frankly you wouldn’t find your way with it not matter what since Google has never really been allowed to map the place.

aMap is highly reliable, easy to use and it has an English version for foreigners. The level of accuracy of the map is quite remarkable. For example, it will indicate you how long a red light will go on for by showing a live countdown. This is very useful for pedestrians to gauge whether they can cross or not.

Taxi drivers will use the Chinese version of the app which is a lot more developed than the English version.

DiDi

This is the Chinese answer to Uber. Taxis are very inexpensive in China and I recommend you use them to get around on short distances or where buses and trains cannot take you.

TaoBao

This is the equivalent of Amazon. It is widely used in China for its shopping interface and convenience. Foreigners can also order. I bought myself a pair of Nike Retro only available in China from the platform when the store didn’t have my size in stock. The package came in 48 hours from Shanghai to Beijing, right on time before we left for the airport. The only inconvenience would be that you need to have the delivery address put in Mandarin with Chinese characters but this is something you can ask the hotel reception to help you with.

Should you need something delivered to you, you can rely on TaoBao. Needless to say that the app has everything you could ever possibly need as China is the factory of the world.

VPN

A VPN will be essential in China if you want to access any app available to us in the west. The Chinese population does not have TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Google or Amazon. They have their own Chinese version of all of these made in country. Therefore if you wish to use any of your usual apps, you will need a reliable VPN. We used Surfshark (not affiliate) and it worked a treat. Be mindful though that as being a part of the Great Firewall, hotels WiFi will block your VPN, therefore an e-sim is necessary to access the 5G network, turn on your VPN, access internet and your apps.

Bonus: Luckin Coffee

As a coffee lover myself, I was very surprised to see that the Chinese coffee scene is a very robust one. Expecting the country to be inundated with jasmine tea instead, I was very happy to see so many coffee shops around and one in particular: Luckin Coffee.

If like me, you cannot go about your day without your morning coffee fix, I recommend you download the Luckin app on your phone and get access to special offers and coupons so you can get the daily coffee of your choice for 9.9 yuan (£1.06 / $1.45 / €1.23).

I went every single day and that was such a nice routine to have every morning.

This is a non-exhaustive list and I will keep adding apps and update the list accordingly.

(Last update May 2025).

All the apps you need to Have for a successful trip to China

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