Paying in China: foreign cards, cash, SIMs and the apps

Set up Alipay and Weixin Pay in three steps

Two apps, Alipay and Weixin Pay (the payment side of WeChat), are the usual way to pay in Chinese cities, and both now let you link a foreign card. At the till you either scan the merchant’s QR code with the app or show your own payment code for the cashier to scan.

At home, before you fly, install Alipay and WeChat and register each with your own phone number; neither needs a mainland bank account or a Chinese number. In Alipay, link a Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Discover or Diners Club International card and submit your passport details, which it asks for before your first card payment. In WeChat, link a Visa, Mastercard, JCB, American Express, Discover (including Diners Club) or UnionPay card, then complete Weixin Pay’s passport check, which can take only seconds and raises your limits. Until you do, a linked card pays for purchases only: you cannot top up a balance or send money.

On arrival, make your first payment a small one of CNY 200 or less, such as a metro ride or a convenience-store till. Your bank can still decline it, and a small payment tells you before a large bill does. In Beijing, open Alipay’s Transport section, choose your city and complete the identity check to get a metro QR code, or tap an overseas Visa or Mastercard at the gates. In Shanghai, the metro QR code works in Alipay or WeChat, and the gates take contactless UnionPay, Visa, Mastercard, American Express and JCB cards.

If a card fails, try your second card, then the one-stop service centres in the international arrival halls at Pudong and Hongqiao Terminal 1, which help visitors set up payment apps.

Fees, limits and the Weixin Pay offer

Payments of CNY 200 or less (about EUR 27, GBP 22 or USD 30 at the 23 October 2026 central rate) are generally fee-free. A payment above CNY 200 may carry a 3% fee on the whole amount, not only on the part above CNY 200, so a CNY 300 payment could cost CNY 9 in fees. The payment screen shows any fee before you confirm. At hotels and for other large bills, pay at the desk by card or prepay when you book, rather than through an app payment that may carry the 3% fee.

Weixin Pay announced in May 2026 that first-time users who link an international card pay no 3% fee for 90 consecutive days from their first transaction, up to CNY 1,000 a day.

Once you have passed the passport check, Weixin Pay allows payments of up to USD 5,000 a time and USD 50,000 a year, subject to your bank, and Shanghai’s government gives the same upper limits for Alipay.

Cash, bank cards, ATMs and changing money

Carry some renminbi. Since 1 February 2026 shops must generally accept cash, though online-only and some unattended services still need an app.

The Shanghai government gives these figures for its city: terminals showing the UnionPay, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB, Diners Club or Discover logo may take a card issued outside the mainland, as do some taxis, and ATMs with the matching logo generally allow up to CNY 3,000 a withdrawal with an overseas card; some set less, and your own bank may set a daily or monthly limit. In Beijing, the government’s guide for foreign visitors says metro ticket offices and machines take RMB cash and Chinese or foreign bank cards, buses take cash (carry small change), and railway station ticket offices take cash, bank cards or payment apps.

To change foreign notes, use a bank branch with a green “EXCHANGE” sign, such as Bank of China or China Construction Bank, or the bank counters and exchange points at Shanghai’s international airports; rates differ between them.

A local SIM or an eSIM

A mainland SIM is not needed for train tickets: 12306 accepts a verified email address as the contact for foreign passengers, so you can book online before you fly, as our China transport guide explains. A mainland SIM is registered to your identity: the operator checks your passport and records its details, and China Mobile accepts foreign passports for registration. Buy it at a service hall run by China Mobile, China Unicom or China Telecom; there are no processing fees, so you pay only for the plan. Beijing’s halls typically open from 08:30 to 20:00.

At Beijing Capital and Beijing Daxing, the “Beijing Service” counters are the airport desks that sell SIMs against a passport, and they also hand over cards ordered online: China Mobile’s for collection at Capital, China Unicom’s at Daxing. In Shanghai, the one-stop service centres at Pudong and Hongqiao Terminal 1 help with mobile connections but are not listed as selling SIMs, so plan on an operator’s hall in town.

Budget about CNY 150 a person (CNY 300 for two) for a 15-day data SIM, based on China Telecom’s published 15-day foreign-visitor card at CNY 125 (30 GB and 200 minutes), sold to new accounts opened with a foreign passport in its own halls until 30 November 2026.

A mainland carrier’s eSIM is rarely the easy route. An iPhone bought outside mainland China cannot install a mainland carrier’s eSIM, and on phones that can, activation needs a visit to the carrier’s store with a passport or other ID.

Without a local SIM, you can use your home carrier’s roaming or a travel eSIM bought before departure. Such data is usually carried through a network outside the mainland, so the apps you use at home tend to keep working; your carrier lists its price for China. Neither gives you a mainland number, but 12306 train tickets do not need one.

Maps, rides and translation

Amap navigation works in English and other languages, including French, Spanish, Japanese, Russian and Korean; in China the app is called Gaode Map. Switch it to your language, save your hotel, and it suggests taxi or public-transport routes there from where you are.

DiDi works in English with a foreign number and card, with the same drivers and pricing as the Chinese app. Messages to your driver are translated, and English customer service runs round the clock. You can also book a ride in Alipay (Transport, then Taxi) or in WeChat (Me, Services, then Mobility).

WeChat translates messages inside a chat, and can translate the Chinese text in a photo that someone sends you. Pleco is a Chinese dictionary that works online and offline, and Apple’s pre-installed Translate app can download language packs for offline use.

Before you go: blocked apps, offline maps and your passport

German government advice is to refrain from using VPN services, and it lists Google, Facebook, X and WhatsApp among the online services that are blocked in China. Plan on limited access to some overseas apps: download offline maps and language packs, and keep tickets, bookings and your hotel’s name and address in Chinese characters saved on the phone.

Carry your original passport at all times; British advice says police make random checks and do not accept printed copies, and you will need it for a SIM anyway. Our entry guide covers the other safety rules. Check your own government’s current travel advice before you book.