If this is your first trip to China, there’s a good chance you’ve already watched 15 YouTube videos, downloaded five apps you don’t understand, read three completely different explanations of Alipay, and somehow ended up more confused than when you started.

That’s pretty normal.

I went back through a lot of first-time China threads from the last few years, and what’s interesting is that the questions barely change:

• Will my card work?
• Do I need cash?
• Do I need a VPN?
• Which map works?
• How do trains work with a foreign passport?
• Do I need WeChat?
• Will I survive without speaking Chinese?
• Should I book attractions in advance?
• Do I need a Chinese phone number?

What has changed is that China has become much easier for short-term foreign visitors than it was even in 2023.

Back then, Reddit threads were full of people wondering whether foreign cards could even be used properly with Alipay or WeChat. By 2024–2026, linking international cards became a normal part of the tourist setup, AMap added an English interface, China introduced a digital arrival card, and 12306 became much more usable for foreign passport holders. (Reddit)

So here’s the version I’d give a friend visiting China for the first time.

Not the “download these 27 apps” version.

The stuff that actually matters.

1. First: sort out your entry situation before you think about anything else

This sounds obvious, but Reddit is full of itinerary questions from people who haven’t actually confirmed whether they need a visa.

As of 2026, China allows ordinary passport holders from a fairly large group of countries to enter visa-free for stays of up to 30 days for things like tourism, business, visiting friends/family and transit. The official list changes, so don’t rely on a TikTok from six months ago — check China’s National Immigration Administration before booking around an assumption. (国家知识产权局)

There’s also the 240-hour visa-free transit policy for eligible nationalities, but this is not the same thing as normal visa-free entry. It requires you to be transiting China on the way to a third country or region, and there are rules about entry ports and permitted areas. As of August 2026, 57 nationalities were covered. (国家知识产权局)

The practical version:

Before you book the rest of the trip, know exactly which category you are entering under.

Don’t build a 14-day China itinerary around a transit policy that only applies to a completely different route.

2. Do the digital arrival card before you fly

This is one of the things that changed recently.

China introduced an official online arrival card system in November 2025. You can complete it through official National Immigration Administration channels before arrival instead of waiting until immigration. The NIA specifically warns travelers about fake websites charging money for this — the official service is free. (国家知识产权局)

Recent travelers on Reddit consistently say doing it before departure saves time and avoids trying to fill everything in on airport Wi-Fi after a long flight. (Reddit)

Have these ready:

• Passport
• Flight details
• First accommodation
• Address in China
• Basic itinerary information

And save a screenshot of whatever confirmation/QR you receive.

Even if the immigration officer doesn’t end up asking to see the QR, you’d rather have it than stand there wondering whether the airport Wi-Fi is working.

3. Set up Alipay BEFORE you land

If you do only one bit of “China tech prep,” do this.

China is not literally cashless, and cash is still an official payment option. But day-to-day life is overwhelmingly built around QR payments.

Foreign visitors can register Alipay and WeChat with overseas phone numbers and bind supported international cards including Visa, Mastercard and several other major networks. Official guidance also confirms that RMB cash remains a valid payment option. (中华人民共和国国务院)

The biggest mistake I keep seeing in older Reddit threads is people thinking:

“I downloaded Alipay, so I’m ready.”

No.

Go all the way through:

Create account → identity verification → add passport if requested → bind card → make sure the card appears correctly.

Do this while you’re still at home.

People have repeatedly reported getting stuck on verification, SMS codes, bank fraud checks or card authorization after arriving. (Reddit)

My practical setup would be:

Primary: Alipay
Backup: WeChat Pay
Backup to the backup: small amount of RMB cash
Second card: ideally from a different bank/network

Why two cards?

Because sometimes the problem isn’t China. It’s your own bank deciding that your ¥38 noodle payment looks suspicious.

Also tell your bank you’re traveling if that’s something your bank still requires.

A small payment detail people discover too late

Historically, the official guidance has stated that payments using international cards linked to Alipay/WeChat may incur a service fee for larger transactions; the 2024 government guide cited a 3% fee above RMB200. Fee rules can change, so check what the app shows you before confirming a larger purchase. (中华人民共和国国务院)

For daily coffees and noodles, this usually isn’t the thing that ruins your trip.

For a large hotel bill or expensive shopping, it’s worth paying attention.

4. You do NOT need 20 Chinese apps

This may be the most Reddit-specific advice I can give.

Every few months someone posts a giant “YOU NEED ALL THESE APPS FOR CHINA” graphic.

Then the comments are full of people saying:

“I used three of these.”

For a first trip, start simple.

I’d install:

Alipay

Payments, transport QR, mini-apps, sometimes ride-hailing.

WeChat

Backup payments, communication, QR codes, mini-programs.

AMap / Gaode

Navigation.

12306

Trains.

DiDi

Ride-hailing.

A translation app

With Chinese downloaded offline.

Trip.com

Optional, but useful if you prefer English-language booking for hotels, trains and attractions.

That’s enough to get through most normal first trips.

Reddit users have been repeating some version of this setup since 2024; the main difference today is that AMap is considerably easier for English-speaking visitors than it used to be. (Reddit)

5. Do not plan to use Google Maps as your main China map

This catches a lot of people.

Google Maps may display China, but the data can be outdated, business listings can be poor, and travelers repeatedly report location/address inaccuracies.

Reddit’s answer has gradually shifted from:

“Use Baidu if you can read Chinese”

to:

Use AMap, or Apple Maps if you’re on iPhone.

AMap/Gaode now has an English interface, although some local listings and business information may still be easier to understand in Chinese. (Reddit)

If you use an iPhone, Apple Maps is also a very easy fallback.

One useful habit:

Save your hotel in Chinese.

Screenshot:

• Hotel name in Chinese
• Chinese address
• Phone number

Do the same for any obscure destination.

Showing a driver:

“The Shanghai Edition”

is much less useful than showing:

上海艾迪逊酒店 + full Chinese address

6. Internet: decide what you actually need

This is where advice gets messy because travelers are using completely different setups.

There are basically two separate questions:

A. Do I need mobile data?

Yes.

B. Do I need access to Google / Instagram / WhatsApp / Gmail / Reddit etc.?

If those services matter to you, figure out your solution before you arrive.

Travelers generally use one of these:

International roaming

Simple, often expensive.

Travel eSIM

Very convenient. Some travel eSIMs route traffic outside mainland China, which may allow access to services that are restricted on ordinary mainland connections.

Mainland Chinese SIM

Useful because you get a +86 number, which can make some local services easier — restaurant queues, mini-programs, ticketing, verification, etc.

But a normal mainland mobile connection follows mainland internet restrictions.

A pattern that comes up again and again on Reddit is:

eSIM for easy internet access + local Chinese number when local services really need one.

You probably don’t need both for a simple 5-day Shanghai trip.

For a month-long multi-city trip, a mainland number becomes more useful. (Reddit)

If you plan to rely on any network-access tool, install and test it before departure.

Do not make “I’ll figure it out after I land” the plan.

7. A Chinese phone number is useful — but not mandatory for everything

This is another area where people give overly absolute advice.

You can absolutely travel in China using an international number.

Alipay, WeChat and DiDi all have pathways for foreign visitors, and official government guidance says DiDi Greater China supports registration using overseas phone numbers and international credit cards. (中华人民共和国国务院)

Where a Chinese number becomes useful is with:

• some mini-programs
• restaurant queue systems
• local delivery services
• some attraction systems
• hotel Wi-Fi logins
• random local verification flows

So:

Short first trip: probably optional.

Long trip / deeper local travel: increasingly useful.

8. Set up trains before you suddenly need a train

China’s high-speed rail is one of the easiest parts of traveling here once your account is working.

The official platform is:

China Railway 12306

Foreign travelers can register using a foreign passport, complete identity verification and purchase tickets through the English website/app. Your passport is the ID tied to the ticket. (12306)

Do the verification before your trip rather than five minutes before tickets open.

Recent Reddit travelers repeatedly recommend this because passport verification can take time, especially when manual review is involved. (Reddit)

And this part surprises first-timers:

Your passport is effectively your train ticket.

For e-tickets, you normally enter using the ID document attached to the booking rather than a traditional paper ticket. The railway explicitly states that passengers should present the valid ID used for purchase when boarding. (12306)

So if you bought the ticket with Passport A:

bring Passport A.

Not a photo of it.

Not your driving licence.

The actual passport.

9. Carry your passport more often than you would at home

This is one of the practical differences in China.

Your passport may be needed for:

• High-speed rail
• Some attraction entries
• Hotel check-in
• Certain ticket collections
• Identity checks connected to reservations

Many attractions use real-name ticketing, meaning the ticket is linked to your passport number.

This is why you’ll see experienced China travelers telling first-timers:

“Bring your passport today.”

especially in Beijing.

Don’t automatically leave it in the hotel safe every morning the way you might elsewhere.

10. Book the important attractions before the casual ones

China rewards spontaneous wandering.

China does not always reward spontaneous entry into famous attractions.

If your trip depends on seeing something like:

• Forbidden City
• popular museums
• major performances
• limited-capacity scenic areas

research the reservation system in advance.

One of the recurring Reddit mistakes is people planning the “perfect Beijing Tuesday” and only discovering on Monday night that the thing anchoring the entire day uses timed/limited admission. (Reddit)

There are often workarounds for foreign visitors, and rules change.

For example, foreign travelers have reported successful same-day on-site purchases for the Forbidden City in recent years, even when online reservations were unavailable — but experiences vary by date, crowd level and current operating policy. (Reddit)

The lesson is not:

“Never book.”

It’s:

Don’t build your trip around hoping a workaround still works.

11. Leave more time between cities than Google makes you think you need

A classic first-China itinerary looks like:

Beijing
→ Xi’an
→ Chengdu
→ Chongqing
→ Zhangjiajie
→ Shanghai

in nine days.

Technically possible.

Probably not fun.

This comes up constantly in itinerary threads.

People underestimate:

• getting to a railway station
• security
• station size
• train time
• getting out of the destination station
• finding the hotel
• checking in
• reorganizing bags
• figuring out dinner

China’s high-speed rail makes the country look compact.

China is still enormous.

A three-hour train does not mean:

“I only lost three hours.”

For most first-timers, fewer cities usually means a better trip.

One 2026 thread based on dozens of itinerary conversations made exactly this point: first-time visitors routinely try to treat China like city-hopping through Europe, when the scale and city sizes make that tiring very quickly. (Reddit)

12. Learn five Chinese phrases — but don’t panic about Chinese

You can travel through major parts of China without speaking Mandarin.

People do it every day.

But you should not assume everyone working in:

• taxis
• small restaurants
• stations
• markets
• local hotels

speaks English.

The best workaround is not memorizing 400 Mandarin phrases the week before your flight.

It’s having:

A translation app

Download Chinese offline.

Chinese addresses

For hotels and destinations.

Screenshots

Save things before you need them.

A few phrases

你好 — nǐ hǎo — hello
谢谢 — xièxie — thank you
这个 — zhège — this one
多少钱？ — duōshao qián? — how much?
洗手间在哪里？ — xǐshǒujiān zài nǎlǐ? — where is the bathroom?

Honestly, pointing at a menu + translation app + smiling gets you pretty far.

13. DiDi makes taxis much easier

Do not make your first China taxi experience:

arriving at 1am, standing outside an airport, showing an English hotel name to a driver.

Use DiDi.

Foreign travelers can use the DiDi Greater China app, and official guidance says international phone numbers and international credit cards are supported. DiDi is also accessible through Alipay/WeChat in some flows. (中华人民共和国国务院)

Benefits:

• Destination already entered
• No pronunciation problem
• Fare visible
• Trip recorded
• Less negotiation
• Pickup pin

Just pay attention to pickup points.

At huge airports, railway stations and shopping malls, “the car is here” and “you know where the car is” can be two very different things.

14. Public transport is easier than it looks

Metro systems in major Chinese cities are generally straightforward.

You can usually:

• buy single tickets
• use transit cards
• activate transport QR codes through Alipay
• in some cities use supported contactless foreign cards

Official guidance specifically says foreign visitors can use Alipay’s Transport function to generate metro QR codes after identity verification. (中华人民共和国国务院)

My advice for a first trip:

Don’t spend two hours at home trying to activate the metro pass for every city you might visit.

Do Beijing when you reach Beijing.

Do Shanghai when you reach Shanghai.

You’ll understand the system very quickly once you’ve used it once.

15. Bring some RMB cash anyway

Yes, China is QR-heavy.

No, cash is not illegal or “not accepted anymore.”

Official guidance continues to recognize RMB cash as a normal payment method, and authorities have pushed businesses to improve cash acceptance for foreign visitors. (中华人民共和国国务院)

I would not travel around carrying thousands of RMB.

But having something like:

¥300–¥500

as emergency backup is sensible.

Situations happen:

• foreign card rejected
• phone battery dead
• app risk control
• network problem
• tiny vendor
• taxi issue

Reddit travelers who had trouble with Alipay regularly say they were grateful they carried backup cash. (Reddit)

Digital first.

Cash backup.

16. Carry tissues. Seriously.

This has survived every generation of China Reddit advice.

2023, 2024, 2025, 2026:

bring tissues.

Some public bathrooms provide toilet paper.

Some provide it outside the stalls.

Some provide nothing.

Carry:

• pocket tissues
• hand sanitizer

This is one of those tiny things that sounds silly until the one time it isn’t. (Reddit)

17. Your phone becomes your travel infrastructure

In a lot of countries, losing phone battery is annoying.

In China it can temporarily mean losing:

• wallet
• taxi
• map
• translator
• hotel address
• train info
• attraction booking
• messages

So bring a power bank.

And don’t leave your hotel with:

19% battery, no cash and no idea what your hotel is called in Chinese.

That’s how perfectly normal evenings become Reddit posts.

18. Screenshot important information

This is probably the least glamorous tip here and one of the most useful.

Before the trip, create a folder containing:

• Passport copy
• Travel insurance
• Hotel confirmations
• Hotel names in Chinese
• Hotel addresses in Chinese
• Flight details
• Train details
• Important attraction bookings
• Emergency contact
• Your itinerary
• Anything you absolutely need to show someone

Keep it available offline.

Do not assume:

“It’s in my email.”

Your email is only useful if your email is loading.

19. Don’t over-plan food

One of the pleasures of China is eating something you hadn’t planned to eat.

You absolutely should research regional food.

But you do not need:

Breakfast restaurant #1
Coffee #2
Lunch #3
Snack #4
Dinner reservation #5

every day.

Use maps.

Look at what’s busy.

Ask hotel staff.

Walk.

The best bowl of noodles on your trip may not have an English name.

20. But DO research dietary restrictions properly

If you have:

• severe allergies
• celiac disease
• religious dietary requirements
• vegan requirements
• serious intolerance

prepare a Chinese-language card explaining exactly what you cannot eat.

Not:

“I’m vegetarian.”

But specifically:

no meat
no chicken stock
no pork fat
no fish sauce
etc.

Because definitions differ culturally.

Translation matters more than good intentions here.

21. Don’t obsess over looking like you “know China”

This one isn’t technical, but I think it matters.

A lot of first-timers seem worried about:

“doing China correctly.”

You will scan the wrong QR code.

You will stand at the wrong station exit.

You will order something you didn’t mean to order.

You may accidentally walk through an entire mall trying to find the DiDi pickup area.

That is fine.

China feels complicated before you arrive because many systems are unfamiliar.

Once you’ve:

• paid once
• taken one metro
• boarded one train
• ordered one DiDi

the learning curve drops very fast.

This is something that keeps showing up in recent first-timer trip reports: the prep sounds intimidating, but once the basics are configured, traveling becomes much smoother than expected. (Reddit)

If I were flying to China tomorrow, this is exactly what I’d do

One or two weeks before

• Check visa / visa-free eligibility
• Install Alipay
• Install WeChat
• Verify identity
• Add two cards if possible
• Install AMap
• Install 12306
• Verify passport on 12306
• Install DiDi
• Install offline translation
• Decide eSIM / roaming / local SIM setup
• Sort out access to any Western services I need
• Book major attractions
• Save hotels in Chinese

2–3 days before

• Complete digital arrival card
• Screenshot confirmation
• Download hotel confirmations
• Screenshot Chinese addresses
• Download offline translations/maps where possible
• Notify bank if necessary
• Withdraw some RMB or plan to do so on arrival
• Charge power bank

In my carry-on

• Passport
• Phone
• Power bank
• Charging cable
• Backup bank card
• Some RMB
• Tissues
• Hand sanitizer
• Essential medication
• Hotel address in Chinese

That’s basically it.

The short version

If you only remember seven things from this post:

1. Check your actual visa status.

2. Set up Alipay before arrival.

3. Have WeChat as backup.

4. Sort out internet before landing.

5. Use AMap/Apple Maps, not Google Maps as your main navigation tool.

6. Verify yourself on 12306 before you need train tickets.

7. Keep your passport, phone battery and a little cash with you.

Everything else you can figure out.

China isn’t particularly difficult to travel in.

It’s just a place where a little preparation before Day 1 saves a lot of friction on Day 1.

And for people who have already been:

What’s the one thing you wish someone had told you before your first China trip?

I’m especially curious about the small stuff — not “visit the Great Wall,” but the thing that would’ve saved you 30 minutes of confusion at a train station, restaurant, airport, hotel, etc.