Leave the cash at home

01Two apps run the country — plus one new way in

Cash and plastic never went away, but day-to-day China is built on two QR-based wallets: Alipay (支付宝) and WeChat Pay (微信支付). Locals pay for everything — noodles, metro, temple tickets, the guy selling roast chestnuts — by scanning a code or showing one. Since mid-2023, both apps register foreign passports and bind international cards, so you no longer need a Chinese bank account to join in.

If you only set up one, make it Alipay: its English flow and foreign-card support are the smoother of the two, and its built-in translation, ride-hailing and transit cards mean one app covers most of a trip. Add WeChat Pay too if you'll be messaging locals — many small vendors only show a WeChat QR.

There is now a third door, and it is the lowest one to walk through. TenPayGo, launched by the WeChat Pay team on 24 September 2026, is a standalone app built for short-term visitors: you register with an email address — no Chinese phone number and no WeChat account — bind an overseas Visa or Mastercard or add it to Apple Pay, and scan into the same WeChat Pay merchant network. It is not a third payment network. It is a third way to reach WeChat Pay's, for people who would rather not install WeChat at all.

Be clear about what is still missing, though. Wallet support is thin at launch — Singapore's Starryblu is live, with roughly 60 overseas wallets targeted by the end of 2026, so unless your home wallet is on that short list you will be binding a card. The in-app tax-refund service is still being built with Chinese banks, not shipped. The Shenzhen metro and bus ride code was in internal testing as of late September, and does not yet extend beyond Shenzhen. Early App Store ratings sat around 3.2 from about 50 users. Promising, genuinely useful, not yet settled — set it up as your fast option, not your only one.

02Set it up before you fly

Do this at home on hotel wifi, not jet-lagged at the airport. The whole thing takes about 15 minutes per app, and verification can lag a few hours — you want it green before you land.

1. Download Alipay from your home app store and register with your passport and a phone number that can receive an SMS code. Your home number works.
2. Open Add a card / bank card and enter an international Visa or Mastercard. Complete the identity check — passport photo and a selfie. Approval is usually minutes, sometimes a few hours.
3. Tap Pay / Receive to find your personal QR code. This is what you'll show cashiers, and the scanner you'll use for stall codes.
4. Repeat for WeChat Pay if you want the backup: register WeChat, open Me → Pay and Services → Wallet → Bank Cards → Add a Bank Card, add the same card.
5. Want the shortest route? Install TenPayGo from your home App Store or Google Play, register with your email only, then bind the same Visa or Mastercard — or add it to Apple Pay and never type a card number. Around five minutes, no WeChat account and no Chinese phone number required.
6. Tell your bank you're traveling to China so the first few charges don't trip fraud locks — the classic reason a binding "fails".

03Mind your card's fees

One thing to keep in mind: paying with a foreign card through Alipay or WeChat can attract fees — and they can come in two layers. WeChat Pay's published rule is ¥200 or less free, 3% above ¥200, so the everyday payments cost you nothing and it is the large ones that carry the charge. Wallets and merchants do differ, so the app's confirmation screen is still the source of truth for that transaction. On top of that, your issuing bank sets its own rate — some add a foreign-transaction or exchange fee, some waive it entirely — so check your own card's terms before you rely on it.

TenPayGo settles through WeChat Pay, so it follows the same published rule: ¥200 or less free, 3% above. On top of that there is a launch offer worth planning around. Tencent's card-binding deal waives that 3% for 90 days from your first purchase, on up to ¥1,000 per day, for first-time binders, and it runs until 31 December 2026. Bind a Visa or Mastercard and a one- or two-week trip is effectively fee-free on everyday spending. Two honest caveats: read the fee line on the payment screen to confirm it applies to that transaction, and expect your issuing bank to still add its own foreign-transaction fee — that part is between you and your bank, not the app.

The limits are a separate thing from the fees, and they are the ones that stop a payment rather than tax it. WeChat Pay caps a bound foreign card at ¥6,500 per transaction, ¥50,000 per calendar month and ¥65,000 per year. ¥6,500 is under US$1,000, so it is a real ceiling for a hotel bill settled in one go, a flight, or a piece of jewellery — split the payment or put the big-ticket items on the card itself at the counter, where China's own acceptance of foreign cards has improved a lot.

The practical move: use the foreign card for everyday spending, and for big-ticket items — hotels, flights, long-distance trains — consider paying the merchant directly with a contactless card or at the desk. If you have one, a travel card with no foreign-transaction fee takes the guesswork out of it.

04Where cards and cash still earn their place

Mobile pay covers ~95% of a trip, but three fallbacks matter. Contactless Visa/Mastercard works at big-city hotels, airports, department stores, some chains — and increasingly at metro gates in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Chengdu, where you can tap a foreign card straight through. UnionPay is accepted at terminals nearly everywhere if your home bank issues one.

And cash is still legal tender — by central-bank rule, merchants must accept renminbi, and refusing it can be reported. Carry a few small notes (10s and 20s) for the rare cashless-only stall, temple donation boxes, and rural stops. Don't carry a brick of it; you'll barely break the first 100.

05What things cost — and tipping

For most Western visitors China is excellent value: outside the big-city hotel splurges, a comfortable day costs far less than you'd expect. Rough 2026 prices, in renminbi (¥1 ≈ US$0.15):

Add it up and the day-rate bands look like this — not counting the long intercity train or flight:

Backpacker — ¥250–350/day on hostels, street food and public transport. Comfortable — ¥500–800/day with 3-star hotels, sit-down restaurants, the odd taxi and a big sight. Plush — ¥1,500+/day, where 5-star stays and fine dining set the ceiling.

Tipping? Don't, really. China has essentially no tipping culture. Restaurants, taxis, DiDi, bars and ordinary hotels expect nothing — leaving coins behind can confuse staff or get you chased down the street to take them back. The price you're quoted is the price you pay.

06Questions people ask before they go