apps
The Essential China Travel Apps
The handful of apps that will make your trip smoother — payments, transport, translation and booking.
China is an app-first country, and a small toolkit installed before you leave will save you endless friction. The single most important is a payment app, since so much of daily life runs through it.
The core kit
- Alipay or WeChat — payments, plus booking and mini-apps.
- Didi — ride-hailing in English.
- Trip.com — trains, hotels and flights with English support.
- A translation app with offline Chinese.
- A reliable VPN.
Install these before you arrive, where possible, since some are hard to download or configure from inside China. A little setup at home goes a long way on the ground.
Questions fréquentes
Which app is most important?
A payment app (Alipay or WeChat) — it unlocks almost everything else.
Can I install these in China?
Some, but download the essentials and your VPN before you travel.