What's on my phone and in my bag when I travel around China
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Photo: Marissa Grootes / Unsplash
After years of moving between countries, my travel setup has shrunk to a short list. This is the China version. It's built around one idea: in China, your phone is your wallet, your map, your ticket and your translator, so everything else exists to keep that phone online, charged and able to pay.
I update this page when something changes.
On my phone, set up before I leave
Getting online: a roaming eSIM. Installed at home, switched on when the plane lands, so maps, messages and payments work before I reach passport control. A roaming eSIM routes your data through a provider abroad, which is why your usual apps work as they do at home. How to choose one.
Paying: Alipay, with WeChat alongside. Alipay is linked to a travel card with no foreign transaction fees and verified with my passport. How to link a card. WeChat is mainly for messages, plus the occasional place that only shows a WeChat code. Why I keep both.
One thing to know: Alipay currently charges foreign cards a service fee on larger payments (it has been 3% above 200 yuan), while small payments are fee-free. Check the current figure in the app, and if you're about to pay for something big like a hotel, a card at the desk or a prepaid booking can work out cheaper.
Getting around: Amap, DiDi, and Trip.com for trains. Amap released an English version for international users in January 2025, and it's what I use for walking, metro and bus routes. DiDi runs inside Alipay as well as in its own app. Train tickets I book on Trip.com, because the English booking and passport entry are straightforward. The full app list.
Language: a translation app with offline packs, plus a few show-to-driver cards saved as screenshots, and my hotel's address in Chinese as a photo.
Paperwork, offline: a photo of my passport page and entry stamp, my insurance policy and assistance number, and my embassy's number. All screenshots, so they work with no signal. What to keep and why.
Why I bother with all this before the trip
Because the failure point is almost never the big stuff. It's the small moment where the phone can't pay. In 2024 the South China Morning Post reported on a Singapore-based investor who toured several Chinese cities and found he couldn't pay at restaurants whose QR codes belonged to individuals rather than registered merchants, because WeChat Pay at the time blocked those transfers from accounts linked to foreign cards. Local friends ended up paying, and he paid them back from home. Cash didn't rescue him either: street vendors often had no change.
A lot has improved since then, and both apps now work far better for visitors. But the lesson holds. Set up two ways to pay, test them on day one at a convenience store, and carry a little cash as the third.
In my bag
- A power bank with the 3C mark. Without it, it can't go on domestic flights. Plenty of travellers learned this at the security belt: when the rule was enforced in June 2025, Executive Traveller reported thousands of power banks being confiscated at Chinese airports. What the rule says.
- A compact universal adapter with USB-C ports. China uses several plug shapes, and many hotel sockets take more than one, but an adapter saves the guesswork (the one I use, on Amazon).
- One short USB-C cable and one long one. The long one is for hotel beds with sockets in strange places.
- Tissues and hand sanitizer. Public toilets don't always supply paper.
- A few hundred yuan in small notes. For the rare cash-only stall, a tip, or the day the phone dies.
- My passport, always on me. Not in the hotel safe on travel days. Trains, hotels, museums and some attractions all ask for it.
- A small pack of basic medicine in original boxes: painkillers, rehydration salts, whatever I take regularly. Brand names here are different. If you need more than that.
What I leave out
- An airport SIM for a short trip. It's cheap, but local data doesn't reach Google, WhatsApp or most foreign apps, and buying one means passport registration at a counter after a long flight. For a long stay, a local number becomes worth it.
- Lots of cash. A few hundred yuan is plenty for most trips. When cash still helps.
- A power bank without the 3C mark, if there's any domestic flight on the plan.
- Any tour priced too low to be true. The catch is usually an afternoon in a shop.
- Extra apps I'll never open. Each one wants a phone number, verification and permissions. The short list above covers nearly everything.
The day-one checklist
- Phone online the moment the plane lands.
- Pay for a bottle of water with Alipay at the first convenience store. If it fails, fix it now, on airport Wi-Fi, not at a ticket gate.
- Open Amap and save your hotel.
- Book the first ride or metro trip.
Quick answers
Do I really need both Alipay and WeChat?
For payments, Alipay alone covers most of what a visitor needs. WeChat is worth having for contacting hotels, guides and new friends, and as a backup payment method.
Which eSIM do I use?
I'd rather not name one as "mine" here, because the good deals change. Check what's current before you buy.
Is this list different for a long stay?
Yes. After a few weeks, a local phone number and eventually a Chinese bank account make life much easier.
Sources: South China Morning Post; Executive Traveller; Shanghai government (Amap English map); Trip.com (Alipay fees).
If something here has changed, email me. I re-check every guide and update the date at the top.
Affiliate disclosure: some links in this post are affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Written by David, who lives in China. About me