Money & Your Phone

This is the section that decides how your trip goes

Shanghai is a nearly cashless city that runs on two apps. Get them working and almost everything else is easy; arrive without them and you will spend the week finding out which things quietly require one.

⭐ Alipay and WeChat now take foreign cards

Both have supported international credit and debit cards since 2023, and this is the single most useful change for visitors in a decade. Install one — ideally both — before you fly, verify your identity while you still have easy internet, and link a card.

Between them they pay for the metro, taxis, museum reservations, train tickets, restaurants, convenience stores and market stalls. ⚠️ Verification can take a day or two and sometimes fails on a first attempt, which is exactly why it should not be done at the airport.

Cash still works, legally and awkwardly

Refusing cash is against the rules in China and the central bank has said so repeatedly, so a shop must accept your notes. In practice a small stall may have no change, and the transaction is slower and more conspicuous than tapping a phone. Carry some, expect not to need it.

⚠️ Foreign cards work in some ATMs and not others. Bank of China and ICBC machines at airports and major branches are the reliable ones.

⛔ The internet is not the internet you are used to

Google — including Maps, Gmail and Drive — along with WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, X and a great many news sites are not reachable from inside mainland China. This surprises people who knew it in the abstract and had not thought through what it means for a trip planned entirely in Google Docs.

Practical consequences, in order of how much they will annoy you:

• ⭐ Google Maps is unusable. Download an offline map before you go, and use a local mapping app — Amap and Baidu Maps both have some English.
• Your email may not load. Set up an alternative or check whether your provider is reachable.
• ⚠️ Anything two-factor that depends on a blocked service can lock you out. Check how your bank and your email verify you before you travel.

⚠️ International roaming routes through your home network, which is why many visitors find their phone works normally. That is a real and legal solution — but it is expensive, and it stops working the moment you buy a local SIM.

Getting online

An eSIM bought before departure is the simplest answer for most visitors and often routes internationally. A local SIM is cheaper for a longer stay and requires your passport. Hotel and café wi-fi is everywhere and frequently wants a Chinese mobile number to authenticate — another reason to sort connectivity before you need it.

The four apps worth having

• Alipay or WeChat — payment, and much else besides.
• DiDi — taxis, with an English interface.
• Amap or Baidu Maps — because Google Maps will not load.
• A translation app with a camera mode, downloaded for offline use. Pointing it at a menu is the single most useful thing a phone does here.