Your first 24 hours in China: a practical checklist (2026)

Before you fly

Most first-day problems in China are set-up problems. Sort these out at home, on your own Wi-Fi, with your bank a phone call away.

Get data that works when you land

Turn on roaming with your home carrier, or buy an international travel eSIM before you go. Both usually route your data outside mainland China, so the apps you rely on — Google Maps, Gmail, WhatsApp — keep working. Hotel Wi-Fi and local Chinese SIM cards won’t give you those apps.

Set up Alipay and WeChat Pay

Download both, sign up with your phone number and link a Visa or Mastercard. If an app asks you to verify your identity, use your passport. Tell your bank you’re travelling: a first payment from China is sometimes blocked as suspicious.

Download the essentials

• Alipay and WeChat — for paying, ordering Didi rides, and the mini-programs many sights use for bookings.
• Trip.com — trains, hotels and flights in English.
• A maps app. Apple Maps is a good choice: in China it uses Amap data.
• A translator app with Chinese downloaded for offline use, ideally with camera translation for menus.

Save a few things offline

A photo of your passport’s photo page, your first hotel’s name and address in Chinese, and your booking confirmations. If your battery dies or the signal drops, you still have what a driver or a hotel will ask for.

At the airport

Immigration

Have your passport ready, with your visa or whatever you need to show for visa-free entry — for a transit, that’s your onward ticket. Know your first hotel’s address. You may need to fill in an arrival card, online before you fly or on paper at the airport, and you should expect to have your fingerprints taken.

Getting into the city

• Airport express or metro — usually the simplest and cheapest way in. In most big cities you can scan through the gates with a transit QR code in Alipay, or buy a single ticket at the machines.
• Didi — order a ride inside Alipay, with no extra app to install. Show the driver your hotel’s address in Chinese.
• The official taxi rank — follow the signs and queue outside. Ignore anyone in the arrivals hall who offers you a ride.

At the hotel

Hotels must register foreign guests, so reception will scan the passport of everyone in your party at check-in. It takes a few minutes and it’s routine.

Most hotels also take a refundable deposit, by card or Alipay. A hold on your card can take several days to disappear after check-out.

Before you head out, pick up a hotel card or take a photo of the hotel’s name and address in Chinese.

Staying with friends or in a private rental? Foreign visitors staying outside hotels need to register with the local police, usually within 24 hours. Ask your host how it works where you’re staying.

Paying for things

Photo: Night market

There are two ways to pay with your phone:

• Scan the merchant’s QR code in Alipay or WeChat, type in the amount and show the cashier the confirmation screen.
• Show your payment code and let the cashier scan it.

Bigger hotels, malls and airports often take Visa or Mastercard directly, but many small places don’t. Carry a little cash as a backup — enough for a taxi and a meal — for the day a card or an app won’t cooperate.

Alipay and WeChat Pay may add a small fee to larger payments made with a foreign card. The app shows it before you confirm.

If something goes wrong

A payment is declined

Try the other app, then another card, then cash. If a card keeps failing, check with your bank — it may be blocking the payment.

You’re lost

Show your hotel’s address in Chinese to a taxi or Didi driver, with the phrase 请带我去这个地址 (below).

Your phone dies

That’s what the hotel card and the cash in your pocket are for.

An emergency

Call 110 for police, 120 for an ambulance or 119 for fire. Save your embassy’s phone number too.

Useful Chinese

Eight phrases that cover most of a first day. If your pronunciation doesn’t land, show the characters.