If you are planning to travel to China in the near future, there are several points you need to consider, to make your journey enjoyable, safe and secure.

1. It is impossible to pay with Visa/Mastercard in restaurants and local shops or for transportation. The way around this problem is Alipay app, where you can link your foreign cards and use it as a payment tool. And prepare a lot of RMB cash, just in case. USD, EUR or any other currency is almost of no use, you will need to spend 2 hours in the bank to exchange it. But you can withdraw cash from most ATMs.

2. All Google services are banned in China, including Google maps. The way around is Maps for Apple or Maps.me application. You can download Maps.me maps for selected regions and use it while offline. Besides, these are free of charge.

3. Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X (Twitter), Telegram and WhatsUp are banned in China as well, make sure you install a good VPN app before travelling to China if you would like to keep in touch with your friends and relatives.

4. The best communication tool within China is WeChat, make sure you install it before travelling, to keep in touch with people living in China. And of you properly set it up, it can also be used as a payment tool.

5. For hotel, airplane and train reservations in English, Trip.com is the best application I found so far.

6. Getting the taxi in English is possible through Alipay app (Amaps) or WeChat (Didi) or you can install Didi app and link it to Alipay for payment deductions.

7. Payment for public transportation (metro and bus) is available in Alipay app.

8. Ordering food in Chinese local restaurants can be challenging, as most of the places have it in Chinese only and without pictures. But Baidu translate application will save you, they have the option “translate the picture”.

9. To get your roaming costs down, it would be advisable to get a Chinese SIM card for tourists, before or after arrival. eSIM card is also a good option if your smartphone supports it, just search online for the vendors. Most of the big airports in China have traveller SIM cards for sale, just look for the advertising. More information here: https://gigago.com/china-sim-card/

Short summary: if you have Alipay, WeChat, Trip.com, Maps and Baidu translate up and running – welcome to China, one of the safest and most interesting countries!

Helena Avdjukevica