Chinese Apps - An Overview
China - more than most other countries - runs on apps. And more than more other countries, it relies on a small number of mega-apps all trying to do everything for every one. Because of these apps, modern China is a largely cashless society that lets you order food, check your credit score, send people money, book a movie ticket - all from one app. It is digitally homogenous (though has stunning diversity in other areas).
Of course, this app ecosystem is the result of a very different internet environment to most Western countries. There's a firewall which blocks access to sites that don't fulfil China's censorship requirements. Technology companies have developed in the context of strong government support - the two big tech companies, for example, compete over everything from payments to sharebikes to social media to ride hailing. There is still competition, but within set bounds.
App design is also quite different. The current Western design language emphasises user experience, minimalism, practicality. The Chinese mobile app experience reflects a path that is both familiar and different: in some ways it reminds a Western user of early-2000s internet. Apps are full of pop-ups, flashing icons; there's a sense of bombardment. But although Chinese apps can feel dated to a foreign user, their functionality usually matches often exceeds that of Western apps. (Also, it's worth noting that modern Chinese internet largely is mobile – there was not a large userbase of desktop PC owners who then transitioned to mobile; in China, many people's first experience with the internet has been through their phones)
They have the latest AI chatbots, photo recognition and big data integrations.
So most Chinese apps follow similar design principles and have similar features to one another. Almost all try to do everything - an app like Facebook Messenger or Whatsapp (which are both 'just' messaging) is almost unheard of in China. There's a search bar at the top of the screen, a central pane of around ten icons/services, then an endless scroll with social or shopping content. The bottom of the screen will have familiar tabs such as 'Orders', 'Me', and 'Browse'.
The apps themselves
The big two that any foreigner in China needs are Alipay (Zhifubao) and Wechat (Weixin). Wechat is the primary messaging and social app, with a Facebook-like feed, TikTok-like short videos and Whatsapp-like messaging. You 'friend' people and chat as you would in any app.
Alipay is less social, but more directly functional (it's often simpler to use to get things done, like checking your bank account or booking train tickets - though these are also both possible in Wechat).
Most importantly, both have quite good English versions and are the main payment methods. Everyone (and I mean everyone - including beggars and vendors in the most remote villages) will have QR codes for you to scan and pay money through. Most vendors will still accept cash, though there will be some grumbling, especially if you're using big bills that need change (and doubly so if you're in a taxi and don't have close-to-exact change).
Alipay also has a lifesaver for tourists: TourCard, which basically gives you a temporary Chinese bank account that you can top up with a foreign card for up to three months. Usually, you need a Chinese mobile number and bank account before you can use Wechat and Alipay to their full potential - TourCard lets you get around that. Payments are probably the biggest hurdle that a foreigner will face (other than the language). It was previously branded as 'TourPass', so much of the material online still refers to that.
TourCard is an 'official' program (I believe it's run by the Bank of Shanghai, which charges a slightly higher fee on top-ups of the TourCard account) within Alipay - and a word on these: both Wechat and Alipay feature many, many 'mini programs', which are like apps that run with the Wechat or Alipay environment and allow you to do things like queue up at a certain hospital, order and pay for food at a restaurant or buy train or plane tickets.
As you might have noticed by now, Chinese apps gather a lot of data. Many of them run constantly in the background and track all sorts of phone data considered unusual by Western standards. This does mean they're sometimes unusually helpful - but there's an obvious cost, if you care about privacy.
So Alipay and Wechat are the two big ones - the must-haves. For English navigation and ride hailing, Amaps and Didi are probably the most reliable. If you're comfortable trying out some Mandarin, Baidu Maps is the Google Maps equivalent. Baidu Maps also features in-app ride hailing that will call drivers from every ride hailing app (this is the most convenient one if you read Mandarin). Gaode is also good, and Maps.me is always reliable if you're out in the backcountry and need offline maps - though it's not so great at routing traffic and metros in a city.
Also, because of the firewall, unless you have a VPN active none of the Google ecosystem will function. That means Gmail, Google Maps restaurant reviews, navigation, translation etc. Translation will still work if you download offline translation for Mandarin in Google Translate (which I would recommend doing).
Unlike Google Maps, which has excellent user-generated reviews of all things, restaurant reviews are best found through a Chinese app called Dazhong Dianping (literally 'Everyone Reviews'); the English version is just called 'Dianping'.
I mainly use it for restaurant reviews, but as I've said, this being a Chinese app you can also book accommodation, movie tickets or a massage, or watch short videos, or get points on your account by checking in at 'internet celebrity' spots (ugh). It also has good reviews of travel spots.
The short video app zeitgeist has shifted among young people in China - even though the Chinese TikTok version is technically Douyin, the spiritual companion to TikTok's role in Western countries is Xiaohongshu or 'little red book'. It has short videos, but also reviews of travel spots and travel strategies. It can be challenging if you can't read Mandarin, but it's what all the kids are using these days in China. Douyin is considered somewhat uncool.
Food delivery is best through Meituan or Eleme - if you're in a big city, you can also get just about anything else you can imagine delivered in under an hour. For example, I'm typing this on a Bluetooth keyboard that's connected to my phone - I ordered the keyboard at 10:20pm on a Thursday night, and it arrived at 11:03pm for a total cost of ten American dollars (about 60 renminbi).
The Amazon equivalent is Taobao; Jingdong is best if you're buying expensive tech or are worried about fake goods (they have better consumer protections and higher requirements for online vendors). Taobao deserves a post of its own. Shipping is usually free, and the sheer variety of things you can buy is mind-boggling. The image search tool is powerful. Unless you're buying name-brand or imported goods, most things are priced for the local market.
Those are the main Chinese apps that you'll come across. Most should be available on both the Apple and Google app stores (though the Google app store is blocked in China).
The one other useful app I use regularly is Trip.com for travel booking, the English version of Ctrip (and it's owned by the Chinese travel company that runs Ctrip). It has the most up-to-date listings and auto-translated reviews. It should also be the easiest way to book train tickets and flights (WeChat does also offer a travel booking function that works quite well). The Trip.com app is decent - and, more importantly - not blocked in China.
Other things you should do before arriving in China include:
- adding a Chinese keyboard to your phone,
- getting a VPN,
- offline translation, and
- Pleco (the best Chinese dictionary).
The keyboard is as simple as going into your phone's settings and adding a Chinese keyboard (choose simplified, not traditional). Pinyin input is simplest. Each Chinese character has a one-to-six letter English word associated with it, e.g. 猪 is pronounced 'zhu' with the first tone (which is a 'flat' sound with no intonation) and means 'pig'. Of course, you don't usually express tones with the English alphabet, so you will get several options that pop up at the top of the keyboard. For example, the Pinyin for Chengdu is 'chengdu' (with 'cheng' being second tone and 'du' being first tone).
For offline translation, download a translation pack on Google Translate or another similar app. DeepL is an excellent translator - better than Google, in my experience, though the app doesn't have offline translation and it needs a VPN to function in China.
Pleco is the best Chinese dictionary app I've found. It has Pinyin, stroke and bopomofo input, as well as a clipboard and on-screen reader, and a camera-based character reader.
For VPNs, either go DIY with Outline or another shadowsocks protocol or use a larger commercial one such as ExpressVPN, NordVPN or Astrill. Astrill is meant to be the best. I use Express and Outline, though recently ExpressVPN has completely stopped working - I will probably cancel my subscription. If you're just coming for a short time most offer week-long trials. Be aware that the large VPN companies heavily astroturf online reviews; it's hard to work out who's being paid to recommend VPNs.
That about covers the app ecosystem in China. It's still an intensely digital society - 'digital minimalism' is almost unheard of here - but unlike during COVID, now in China you can theoretically leave your house and walk around without your phone (you previously had to show your phone-based COVID code to go almost anywhere).
Actually - it's well worth bringing a powerbank. They're cheap nowadays, and often hold two or three full charges for your phone. The local alternative is to rent a powerbank. Once again, there are two or three competing brands (belonging to the two or three competing tech companies). There are little batteries (as in 'artillery battery') of powerbanks scattered around basically every conceivable place. You scan a QR code and pay an hourly rate to rent these powerbanks. If you forget to return it you're charged about 15 US dollars (and can then keep it). These powerbank stacks also have a short cord where you can charge your phone if it dies.
Likewise, the three competing sharebike brands are well worth signing up for - in flat cities they make for an excellent way to get around and sightsee for just a few cents (or a month-long unlimited use card is under five dollars). The blue and yellow bikes are best quality; teal tends to still have plastic wheels with lower build quality. Which bike is highest quality may differ city-to-city. Signing up for these services can be a little tricky - the first time I had to take a photo of my face next to my passport for 'real-name verification'. They can be accessed through their respective apps: blue is Alipay, teal is WeChat and yellow is Meituan.
That about covers it. You should decide whether you want to bring a burner phone, and also whether you want to purchase a SIM card with mobile phone number (which is crucial for most digital functions) or just roam with your home country's provider.