Five essential apps for your trip to China; WeChat, Alipay, Meituan, Baidu, Hello, Didi
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
- Hi everyone,
Embark on your adventure to China fully equipped with these essential apps! From navigating bustling streets to indulging in local cuisine, this guide covers all your travel needs.
Discover the convenience of WeChat Pay and Alipay for seamless mobile payments, ensuring you never miss a beat while shopping or dining. 0:58
Need a ride? Dive into the world of DiDi for hassle-free transportation anywhere, anytime. 1:46
And don't forget Hello Bike for effortless cycling adventures around town! 2:55
Make the most of your trip with Meituan, your go-to for booking attractions, restaurants, and even food delivery. 4:20
Plus, navigate like a local with Baidu Map, your trusty companion for exploring China's vibrant cities. 7:11
Hope this video will make your trip to China less stressful and more fruitful!
Regards
Gilbert and Lilian
Gibbon Travelogue
I'm going to China for the first time at the end of June. I've been watching your videos the most for all of this expert information. Xièxiè nǐ!
Great to hear! And glad you find them helpful. Wishing you a safe and fruitful trip in China!
Thank you and it's most helpful indeed. I was able to use the payment app in China via your previous episode when I travelled to China recently. Appreciate your contribution and wishing you and your family a great day !!! 🙏
So glad to hear this. Thanks and safe travels!
Hi Gilbert, any suggestion of using VPN in China? Surely need mobile data in order to use those apps! Please share more info! Thanks!
Hmm am afraid i never really used any VPN in China. Have always stuck to my local telco roaming services.
Roaming is insanely expensive. That should only be used as an emergency option.
Gilbert, Another useful video for Singaporeans travelling to China. 👍
Thanks and thanks for watching!
Is there any advantage of using a debit vs credit card on Alipay?
Hi, obviously there are difference between a credit card and a debit card. But as far as linking to Alipay is concerned, there is no difference at all.
Sorry Gilbert, I forgot to ask whether YouTrip card can be used to link to Alipay and Wechat Pay.
Yes, can be done.
Hi, so can be use in share electric bike also ?
Thanks Gilbert.
@@Tampines8383 yes, can.
Great video. Will be traveling to China early next year. I have quite a lot Yuan in paper form leftover from my last visit from 10 years ago. Since all transactions are now done using phone apps like AliPay, what can I do with them? Or where can I go to exchange my paper Yuan?
Sounds great! Hope you have a great trip. Just bring along your physical cash and spend them. The shops still accept them, just a little inconvenient
@@gibbontravelogue Nice! Thanks
Fantastic info, really helpful.
Glad it was helpful!
Hey Gilbert, may I ask if you purchased a china prepaid sim to access all the applications?
Hi Gaven, no I didn’t. I used the roaming services provided by my telco. A prepaid sim card purchased in China will have problems accessing apps like Google, Facebook, TH-cam etc
@@gibbontravelogue i see. Thank you!
another wonderful video, great work buddy!
Thanks for the visit!
@@gibbontravelogue Keep up the good work! Looking forward to your next video!
@@dave8229Thanks for the encouragement! It matters a lot. 😅
Hi, thank you so much for your thoughtful video. I’ve felt much more prepare going to Shanghai now. I do have a question regarding Alipay/Wechat using a foreign/non-Chinese credit card though. There seems to be a 3% transaction fees for service over 200 RMB ($27-$28), how do we avoid this charge? And, may I ask if Didi also charge for foreign transaction fee? Thank you so much again and wish for much success to the channel! 🎉
Thanks and so glad you find the video helpful. Are you from Singapore? If so, you can use the Changi App which has a digital wallet that can scan Alipay QR codes and doesn’t have the 3% charge.
For Didi, you link your credit card to it. There are no extra charges.
Sorry, another question. Do I need a VPN for 2 weeks' travelling in China? Thanks for your help.
If you are not using a local SIM card, then a VPN is not needed.
Thanks for sharing this helpful video!
Glad it was helpful!
I'm in china right now and most difficult thing is that
1. their APP are practically all in Chinese which hard to follow not all of them work in English.
2. The sim card, be aware that as foreigners you have to buy special sim card dedicated to foreigns 10 giga per month with around 89 R&B.
3. Before you come make sure your visa card ' bank' hzs no limits or restrictions to woke in china.
4. Ali pay imposed limitation on my spending whereas i spend only 250 R&B
THOSE ARE PROBLEMS CAN HURT I CHINA
Thanks for your comments. I would definitely recommend using your own country roaming services.
Is meituoan app in English language? because I cannot speak, because I look halal food restaurant in China
Because I cannot speak Chinese language
Unfortunately, the Meituan app is in Chinese. Perhaps you may have to do it the traditional way, ie enquirer at the hotel concierge for suitable restaurants or can consider getting an English guide.
@@gibbontravelogue it means hotel where I stay?
@@HelmiSyarizal yes, at the hotel that u stay
@@gibbontravelogue do you ever go to changsa, Xiamen, hangzhou?
Hi, I'm from Malaysia. Thanks for your kind effort bro, very useful information.
Hey, happy to be of help, my friendly neighbour! Thanks for supporting this channel.
This presents in English a few apps that only work in Chinese. Since you speak Chinese you miss the struggle and issue of people who don't and need something they can use. The video is somewhat helpful for some of the apps. Thanks
Yes, that’s true. Thanks for supporting the channel regardless.
Agree, I'm a bit surprised with the entrepreunership of the Chinese, no one has exploited the option to just do an English translation for food ordering & reservations.
It's not correct to say China has it's own verson of Google XYZ. Say it this way: China has it's own mapping apps, ride-share apps, travel booking apps, etc. and some of them are much better than their U.S. counterparts.
Singaporeans are so used to U.S. dominance that they only think of Google, Apple, etc.
Hi Ken, thanks for the comments. This travelogue is simply for people who wish to plan a trip to China and to know what apps they can use to enhance their visit. While I’m interested to discuss geopolitics, this may not be the right place.
Thank you so so sooooooo much for the useful information..hopefully I can visit China soon..but I have a question..is there any tourist agencies make a private tours f9r families.?
So glad the video has been helpful to you. There are many tour agencies out there providing private tours for families. You can either search online, search on TikTok or get tours at the hotel concierge.
Which apps can't change to english version. Only knew Baidu. How about Meituan, Hello, Didi ?
Only DiDi and the two payments app can change to English
Not being able to use Google Maps and the Baidu Maps is completely in English will be very hard for non-Mandarin speakers navigating China as tourists. Hope there is English version of maps apps in China.
Agreed. Let’s hope we will have that in future. For now, you can rely a little bit on cranky Google maps in China
Hi Gilbert!
Thank you for taking the time to explain all of these details and help people to prepare their trip to China 🙇🏻
I’m travelling to Chongquin in September and this is the first video of yours I’ve watched. Really helpful.
My only question is about Meituan app. I’ve seen it’s on Chinese. Is there a way I can get it translated into English? I don’t know Chinese unfortunately.
If not, by using a the embedded app in WeChat, could do the Trick? Again, thank you for all your videos in advance 🙌🏻
Hey, thanks and so glad that the video is helpful to you. So far, from my own experience, DiDi, WeChat, Alipay, Hello bike mini app are all quite friendly to non Chinese speakers. But Meituan and Baidu still not that friendly, including the mini programs. So it is going to be hard….
@@gibbontravelogue understood. Really appreciate you taking the time to reply. I’ll give it a try.
Again thanks for creating these great videos 👏🏻🇨🇳🙇🏻
Such helpful suggestions. Thank you. Is there an alternative for Baidu Map in English?
Thank you and glad you find the video helpful. An alternative is Apple Maps if you have an iPhone. Google map is blocked. Unfortunately baidu maps has no English version. You can only use a translator if u use Baidu
thank you , your friend from ALGERIA
Wow! Glad you enjoyed the video and that the video reaches Algeria 🇩🇿
So is it better to buy mobile data before leaving for China?
Yes, that’s my preference.
Hey if I don't have Chinese SIM and how do I buy data roaming packages from my local SIM? Will that work in china ?
@@aashikagaire3314 you can find that out from your local telco. Yes, the roaming services will work in China. Btw, where are you from?
Don't confuse people by using terms like " your local bank cards" or " your local Telco service". Just use " foreign".
Thanks for your suggestion. I guess so
From the viewers' POV, "local" don't sound wrong.
Thanks for the useful tips, one question about using DiDi, do u had to have Chinese phone number when using DiDi? some of my friend in China said u must have Chinese phone number when using DiDi, she said the driver might call you if they can’t track it current location . Thanks again for the video
Hey, glad you enjoyed the video. No, you don’t need a Chinese number to use DiDi. Normally the driver won’t call you. If they need to contact you, they will text you using the in app chat. So it’s ok.
thank you for your video. I downloaded the baidu app but all is in chinese. as an english speaker, how do i change the language to enaglish? the app is all in chinese
Unfortunately for Baidu Map, it is all in Chinese. You will have to use a translation app to manual translation and transcribe.
Thank you so much. How to subscribe local data roaming service for internet for iPhone without local cell phone number? Could you please explain? Thank you
Hey glad you find the video helpful. What i mean in the video, is that you can use your current telco service in your home country to subscribe for roaming services. While it is more generally higher cost, you will still have access to your everyday apps like TH-cam, Facebook and Google.
To register and activate China apps , do you require a China mobile no ?
No, it is not necessary at all. You can use your own local number.
Thank you so much! Best regards from Argentine!
Thanks and glad the video reached Argentina. I really hope to visit Argentina one day. Keep safe!
Hi, now still need tour card or not? what about those small retail seller?
Now no need. This replaces the old tour card.
@@gibbontravelogue if the other party did not subscribe alipay mastercard visa service, we might not able to use. is it truth ?
@@steventay may i know which is the other party that you are referring to?
@@steventay oh, i think i know what you are asking… if the merchant/shop is not a master card or Visa card merchant, are you still able to make purchases using Alipay? Answer is yes. The merchant only need to offer Alipay has a payment mode, you can simply scan the QR code for payment.
@@gibbontravelogue the other party must be a alipay merchant account in order to work to pay using international alipay with mastercard? if personal alipay, we cannot transfer money to them correct?
Hello uncle! thank you for the video, I’d like to ask did the DiDi driver ask for phone number confirmation ( 4 digits of our phone number, because my friend said they do but she rarely used DiDi, so I’m not sure ) and do they ask again where we want to go? thanks beforehand uncle!
Hi Felicia, glad you enjoyed the video. Yes, the driver will always ask for the last four digits of your phone number the first thing you step into the car. The phone number will be whatever the phone number that you use to register for a DiDi account. It can be your own local phone number.
@@gibbontravelogue thank you uncle!
Very useful
Glad you think so!
thank you so much, this is valuable info
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks so much for sharing!!!
@@jasonloke2219 Thanks for watching. And supporting this channel.
Very helpful, however, from earlier I saw that the app only had Chinese text. can we make it to english?
For some of the apps like Didi, WeChat, Alipay, there is a setting that you can switch to English.
@@gibbontravelogue yeah that i found it, i'm still looking for baidu map, all chinese text. so confusing.. haha
@@mayandrapramoedyansyah8987 yah, that one no solution.
Thank you for sharing :)
Thanks for supporting this channel !
Please do I need to get an iphone before coming to china?
Of course not! Use whatever smart phone you are using.
@gibbontravelogue thank you I will download the apps to help
thank you! but unfortunately a lot of these apps and mini programs are not available in my country's app store
Hey which country are you from?
@@gibbontravelogue germany. i hope i can download them once i get to china 😔
how far in advance can you book the attractions in Meituan?
It really depends on the attraction. Usually a few weeks.
@@gibbontravelogue thank you
is it correct that I need to use WeChat for Meituan to work? Can't find it on Alipay
This guide is great but if I can’t read any Chinese then some of these apps won’t do me any good, is there any work around?
Ok, these are apps that have English/international versions WeChat, Alipay and Didi.
It's cumbersome but you can take a screen shot and then run it through a translation APP, eg: Google if you have a VPN, otherwise 'Dear Translate' (which I am pretty sure is the English version of Baidu translate). It actually works much better if you have two phones, one running the Chinese-only APP and the other pointing at the screen and doing the translation in real time. Translation APPs can translate
If you are on Android then you definitely want to down load and practice using before heading to China. Especially the VPN.
Dear Translate is in Chinese but you can pretty soon get the hand of which buttons do what. Google Playstore will be blocked in China. Apple App store doesn't seem to be however.
@@kshred3043 Thanks for your detail reply. Just wondering which vpn seems to work the best or do I really need more than one vpn? I’ve tried espresso VPN it’s so so…works about 40% of time.
Set the mobile phone language to English, then wechat and Alipay will be in English mode, other functions can be realized on wechat and Alipay
but all app in chines language, i try to change to english couldn't
Hey, you should be able to get the English version of DiDi, WeChat and Alipay. For Baidu, Meituan, you’ll need to be proficient in Chinese.
@@gibbontravelogue yes i activate alipay, i got didi in english, wechat no problem, i mean only difficult to use baidu, it is only in chines,rest all no problem can manage