Traveling in China is exciting and fun, but it can be a daunting experience if you’re not familiar with the language or culture.
If you’re planning a trip to Shanghai, don’t forget to download those travel apps for China! These handy tools make exploring this exciting city a breeze. Whether it’s your first visit or you’re a regular traveler, these apps help you find your way around, suggest great places to eat, and even help with the local language.
With the right apps, your journey can be a lot smoother and more enjoyable. Here are the most comprehensive guide of the best apps to use when traveling in China, based on advice from experienced travelers.
Travel apps for China:
- DiDi Global: Equivalent to Uber. This is the Chinese equivalent of Uber and is the go-to app for hailing a ride in China. It’s cheaper than traditional taxis and can be more convenient, especially in big cities.
- Trip.com (Ctrip’s business software for overseas markets): This is one of the best apps for booking hotels, flights, and train tickets in China. It’s user-friendly and offers a wide range of options. Check here for booking high-speed train tickets using foreign passport.
- Meituan: This is a great app for food delivery and reviews. It’s similar to Grubhub or UberEats and is widely used in China. It is popular for food delivery services and also includes restaurant reviews.
- Qunar: A travel booking platform. Used for booking flights, hotels, and travel packages.
- Dianping. A service similar to Yelp. Used for restaurant reviews and local business information. But only has Chinese version.
- Tantan: Equivalent to Tinder. A dating app used for meeting new people and dating in Shanghai.
Payment apps for China Travelling:
Alipay, WeChat payment, Cash and international credit card are 4 payment options to pay for things in Shanghai. Alipay and WeChat payment are the most popular payment mobile apps in China.
- Alipay: This is another popular payment app in China. It’s especially useful for short visits as it can handle foreign credit cards and phone numbers. However, some mini-programs within Alipay require a local phone number.
- WeChat Payment: Similar to Alipay, WeChat Pay for foreigners also requires passport verification for foreigners to use their payment services. However, signing up WeChat and binding international cards may still be a challenge, since it requires someone with verified WeChat help you scan the QR code to create account.
China Shopping Apps Travelling:
- Taobao: Comparable to Ebay. A major online shopping platform in China, known for a wide variety of products. It doesn’t offer an English version of their websites or apps.
- Tianmao (Tmall): Similar to Amazon. An online retail platform, famous for a vast array of goods and reliable delivery services. It doesn’t offer an English version of their websites or apps.
- PinDuoDuo: Equivalent to Temu. It is a popular Chinese e-commerce platform known for group buying and significantly discounted prices. Unlike Taobao, it emphasizes social buying and deeper discounts for group purchases. Currently, there’s no English version available.
- Online supermarket apps:
- Freshippo App
- Freshippo offers a unique feature of opening online orders at 7am daily.
- Users are advised to prepare their shopping carts before 7am for a higher chance of order success. The app experiences high demand, with delivery slots often fully booked by 7:10am. It provides a wide range of grocery items, including fresh produce, and is known for its quick delivery services.
- Dingdong Maicai App
- This app recommends placing orders between 5am to 6am for the best availability.
- Dingdong Maicai is popular for its early morning delivery slot fill-up, often by 6:30am. It specializes in fresh groceries and offers a user-friendly interface for quick shopping.
- Aldi WeChat Mini Program
- Aldi’s mini program on WeChat provides an English service, enhancing accessibility for non-Chinese speakers.
- While official notifications state orders open at 8am, users can actually start ordering from 7:45am. This service is ideal for those looking for international grocery brands and quality products.
- Epermarket
- The go-to option for expats looking to order groceries from an English-language ordering interface.
- Some of the stuff is more pricy but they usually offer seasonal deals and loyalty programs, and again, it’s a convenient to order in English, and even French if you need to. Their customer service also operated in these languages.
- Unfortunately, delivery is usually for next day only.
- Bailian Daojia WeChat Mini Program
- Bailian Daojia sources its fresh produce directly from nearby Lianhua Supermarkets.
- Orders can be placed even at midnight, with delivery typically completed within 36 hours. Customers receive text message updates and can expect swift delivery, often within 10 minutes of dispatch. This program is known for its reliable service and quality produce.
- Freshippo App
Messaging apps for China Travelling:
- Signal: Offers end-to-end encryption and doesn’t require a VPN. Supports text, video/picture messaging, calls, and video chats, making it a secure communication option.
- Telegram Messenger: Known for its P2P encryption capabilities. It is popular for secure messaging, but users may need to enable encryption manually.
- WhatsApp: It is blocked in China but can be accessed using a VPN. It provides various messaging services but requires caution due to potential surveillance when used in China.
- WeChat: The most common and convenient app within China for messaging and social media. But it is subject to surveillance and censorship, hence considered insecure for privacy-focused communications.
- Wickr: Used for secure communication, even within China.
| App Name | Encryption Capability | Need VPN in China | Features | Subject to China Surveillance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Signal | End-to-end encryption | No | Text, video/picture messaging, calls, video chats | No |
| Telegram | P2P encryption | Yes | Secure messaging, self-destructing messages, synced across devices | Potentially if not using encryption |
| End-to-end encryption | Yes | Text, video/picture messaging, calls, group chats | Yes | |
| Encryption | No | Text, voice messages, photos, videos, payment and social media features | Yes | |
| Wickr | End-to-end encryption | No | 1:1 messaging, group messaging, audio and video calling, file sharing | No |
Map apps for China Travelling:
- Amap (Gaode Map): This is a reliable map service in China. Some users prefer it over Baidu Maps as it’s cheaper when used for ride-hailing.
- MetroMan: This app is useful for navigating the subway system in China. It provides up-to-date information and can help you plan your route.
- Baidu Maps: This is the Chinese equivalent of Google Maps and is the most reliable map service in China. It’s especially useful for finding public bus routes.
- MapWithMe: Offers offline maps, useful for navigation without an internet connection. Provides detailed maps and is a great tool for travelers in China.
- LingoMap: a map app for foreigners who cannot read Chinese to use in China. It is a translation of Alibaba Maps (known as AMap and Gaode Map). It shows place, transit route, and street names in the original Chinese, Mandarin Pinyin, and English.
Translation apps for China Travelling:
Check here for a comprehensive comparison of 10 translation apps you can use in Shanghai.
- Pleco: This is an indispensable tool for anyone traveling in China. It’s an offline dictionary that can translate English to Chinese and vice versa. It’s especially useful for understanding menus and signs.
- Baidu Translate: This is another useful translation app. Some users believe it has surpassed Google and Microsoft in terms of English to Chinese translation.
- Waygo: A camera translator app used in conjunction with Pleco for smooth sailing in language translation. Especially useful for quickly translating signs and menus while traveling.
- CamDictionary: An offline camera dictionary app. Useful for translating text in images, aiding in understanding written Chinese.
- Hanping Pro: An offline dictionary app similar to Pleco. Offers camera translations and is a good alternative for Chinese language learners.