The apps
you actually need

China runs on a different set of apps from the rest of the world, and half an hour of setup at home is the difference between gliding through a trip and standing in an arrivals hall unable to call a taxi. The good news is that the list is short, most of it now works in English, and almost all of it can be set up before you leave. Here is what to install, what to skip, and what quietly does not work once you land.

1. The five that matter

• Alipay and WeChat are not optional. They are how the country pays for everything from a metro ride to a bowl of noodles, and both now accept international cards — full setup in the mobile pay guide.
• The mini-programs inside them matter as much as the payment. Attraction tickets, metro QR codes, bike hire and museum bookings mostly live inside Alipay or WeChat rather than in separate apps.
• Keep your home SIM number reachable for verification codes during setup — see the eSIM guide for how to have data and your usual number at once.

2. Maps: what to use instead of Google

• Amap (Gaode) is the default. Switch the interface to English in settings; walking, metro and driving directions are excellent and live.
• Apple Maps works well on the mainland and is the easiest option on iPhone if you want no new accounts.
• Google Maps is effectively unusable on a mainland connection — stale base data, no reliable transit routing, thin business listings.
• Download offline maps of each city. Metro tunnels and old lanes are where your signal disappears and your map matters most.
• Save your hotel in Chinese characters. The single most useful screenshot on your phone is your hotel name and address in Chinese, to show a driver.
• Addresses are found by name, not by street number. Search for the building or the business, not "142 Something Road".

3. Taxis, trains and tickets

• DiDi — the ride-hailing app, with an English interface and in-app translation of messages to the driver. Far less friction than flagging a cab with no shared language.
• Trip.com — the practical way to book bullet trains in English. The official 12306 app is authoritative but heavily Chinese; details in the rail guide.
• Metro QR codes live inside Alipay or WeChat in most cities — no separate app and no ticket machine.
• Attraction tickets are increasingly booked days ahead against your passport, inside a mini-program. This is the workflow behind the Forbidden City and most major sites.
• Shared bikes unlock through Alipay in most cities — genuinely the nicest way to move around Beijing's hutongs or Xiamen's sea wall.

4. Eating, translating and everything else

• Translation: Apple Translate, Microsoft Translator or Baidu Translate. Google Translate is not reliably reachable on the mainland, so don't build the trip around it.
• Camera translation is the killer feature — point it at a menu, a sign or a ticket machine. Download the offline Chinese pack before you fly.
• Dianping and Meituan are where restaurant reviews and queue tickets live. Both are Chinese-first, but the star ratings and photographs are legible to anyone, and Dianping is how locals decide where to eat.
• Ordering is often by QR code at the table, in Chinese. Camera translation handles it; so does pointing at what the next table has.
• Xiaohongshu (RED) is where younger Chinese travellers find viewpoints and cafes. Chinese-only, but visually navigable and often months ahead of English guides.
• What doesn't work: many Western apps and services are not reachable from a mainland connection. An international roaming eSIM routes your traffic outside the country, which is why your usual apps keep working on one — the eSIM guide covers this properly.

5. Set-up order, before you fly

• 1. Alipay and WeChat — install, verify with your phone number, add an international card, and make a test payment if you can. Do this first; everything else is easier afterwards.
• 2. Your eSIM or roaming plan, activated and tested before departure.
• 3. Amap or Apple Maps, with offline maps of your cities downloaded.
• 4. DiDi and Trip.com, both signed in.
• 5. A translation app with the offline Chinese pack.
• 6. Screenshots: hotel names and addresses in Chinese, your passport data page, your insurance number, and any allergy written in Chinese (staying well in China).
• Bring a power bank. Your phone is now your wallet, ticket, map and translator — a flat battery is a genuinely stranded afternoon (packing list).