Pay like a local.

0. Why this chapter exists

You walk into a noodle shop, point at a picture, and hand over your Visa.

The owner looks at it the way you'd look at a fax machine. Then he points at a QR code taped to the counter.

Welcome to China, where the cab is QR only, the street stall is QR only, and the vending machine that sold you a Coke yesterday now wants a Chinese phone number because someone pushed an update overnight. None of this is in the tourist brochures. It's just the price of admission.

This chapter fixes it. By the end you'll pay for things as fast as a local, including a few things locals never have to do, like paying with a foreign card on rails that were never built for one.

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1. The two-app reality

China pays with two apps: WeChat Pay and Alipay. Between them they cover almost every shop, stall and taxi in the country. Cards and cash exist mostly as a backup plan.

Good news: since 2023, both apps let you link a foreign Visa or Mastercard directly. No Chinese bank account, no local friend, no prepaid card.

One catch, and it's a big one: on a foreign card, both apps only pay shops. Transfers to friends, red packets and group bill payments need a Chinese bank card. Section 5 covers how to survive dinner anyway.

1.1 Alipay (支付宝)

Start here. Setup for foreigners is the easiest of the two: install, register with your foreign phone number, add your card, verify your passport. If a shop shows two QR codes, one of them is almost always Alipay.

1.2 WeChat Pay (微信支付)

The other default. If a tiny shop has only one QR code, it's often WeChat. The upside: it lives inside the chat app everyone in China uses, so the moment you meet someone, you're already set up to pay the shops they take you to. The downside: setup is fussier, and a brand new WeChat account sometimes needs an existing user to scan a code to verify you're human.

1.3 What it costs

Both apps use roughly the same rules for foreign cards:

• Payments up to ¥200: free.
• Payments over ¥200: about 3%, charged on the whole payment.
• Limits: up to about US$5,000 per payment and US$50,000 a year once your passport is verified. Unverified accounts get much lower limits, so finish the passport step.

In practice: noodles, metro, coffee and convenience store runs cost you nothing extra. Hotels and train tickets fit comfortably under the limit; they're just where the 3% shows up.

1.4 Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay

Forget them. None of them work in China with a foreign card. Apple Pay technically exists here, but it wants a Chinese bank card. Save your battery.

1.5 About "Tour Pass"

You'll see older guides (and some old posts) tell you to set up Alipay's Tour Pass or Tour Card, a prepaid card with a 5% top-up fee. Alipay has been closing it to new users. You don't need it anyway: linking your card directly is cheaper and simpler.

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2. Alipay setup: the 10 minute version

Do this at home, on WiFi, before you fly. Not in a taxi. Not in the arrivals hall at midnight.

2.1 What you need

• Your phone, with your home number able to receive texts.
• A foreign Visa or Mastercard. Other networks may work, but these two are the safe bet.
• Your passport, in your hand.

2.2 The flow

1. Download Alipay from your app store and open it.
2. Sign up with your home phone number. Alipay sets you up with its international version automatically.
3. Switch the language to English if it hasn't already (Settings → General → Language).
4. Go to Account → Bank cards → Add card and enter your Visa or Mastercard.
5. Verify your identity. Photograph your passport's photo page: flat, good light, no glare. You may be asked for a quick face scan.
6. Done. The Pay and Scan buttons on the home screen now charge your card.

Make one small payment on your first day, a bottle of water will do, to prove it works before you need it for something bigger.

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3. WeChat Pay setup: the screen by screen walkthrough

Set this up if you'll be eating and traveling with Chinese friends. WeChat is where they live, and you'll want it on your phone for the shops that only show a WeChat code.

It takes 10 to 15 minutes the first time.

3.1 What you need before you start

• WeChat installed and logged in. If it asks an existing user to scan a code to verify you, sort that out first. Ask a friend who already uses WeChat. It's a separate problem, and it catches a lot of new users.
• A foreign Visa or Mastercard.
• Your passport, in your hand.
• 10 minutes of peace, ideally on WiFi.

3.2 The flow

1. Open WeChat. Tap Me (bottom right).
2. Tap Services (服务), then Wallet (钱包). If you can't see it, scroll. Tencent likes to move things around.
3. Tap Bank Cards (银行卡), then Add Bank Card (添加银行卡).
4. Type your name exactly as it's printed on the card, in Roman letters. This is the screen where most people get stuck. Middle initials matter. Spaces matter. Accents don't (leave them off).
5. Enter the card number, expiry date and CVV.
6. Verify your identity. WeChat asks for a photo of your passport's photo page. Lay it flat, use good light, avoid glare. If auto detect fails three times, switch to manual and retake. It's fussy about angles.
7. Confirm the card. Depending on your bank, you'll get a text code to confirm it.
8. Set a 6 digit payment password. This is separate from your WeChat login. Write it down somewhere safe. Recovering it means doing the identity check all over again.

3.3 When it fails

Three ways it goes wrong, from most to least common:

• "Verification code expired." The text took too long. Go back a step and try again. If it keeps happening, check that the name and billing details on the card are exactly right.
• "Risk control." A vague banking error that means "we don't like something about this card." Wait 24 hours and try again. Still stuck? Try a different card, or just use Alipay.
• "This service is temporarily unavailable in your region." WeChat is confused about where you are. Turn off any VPN, switch location services on, and retry.

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4. Show your code vs scan theirs: the part that breaks first

Payments in China go in two directions, and they confuse people in opposite ways.

4.1 You show, they scan

The shop has a scanner pointed at the counter. Open Alipay or WeChat, tap Pay (付款), and hold your barcode under their scanner. Beep. Done. You'll see this in supermarkets, chain restaurants and anywhere with a proper till.

The trick: the cashier types the amount, so glance at their screen before you let them scan. Otherwise you'll pay 88 RMB for an 8 RMB drink.

4.2 You scan, you type

The shop has a printed QR code taped to the wall. Open the app, tap Scan (扫一扫), point the camera at the code, type the amount yourself, and pay. This is for street stalls, tiny restaurants, and anyone too small to own a scanner.

The trick: you have to type the right number, and nothing double checks it. Type 100 instead of 10 and the money's gone. Getting it back means a long conversation with someone who doesn't share a language with you. Then show the stallholder your screen; they'll want to see the payment went through.

4.3 When the QR won't scan

Screen too dim, code too dark, camera won't focus. The local move: pinch to zoom in on the code, or take a photo of it and scan the photo from your camera roll. Both apps let you do this.

No signal? (Basement food courts are the classic.) Scanning their code won't work offline. Try the other direction: ask to show your payment code instead, and it may go through on a weak signal. Failing that, step outside for a bar of signal, or pay cash. The phrase you want: "等一下，没信号" (děng yī xià, méi xìn hào), "one moment, no signal." You'll get a nod.

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5. Splitting the bill: AA

Hotpot with six friends. The bill is 480 RMB. Somebody opens WeChat, sends a Group Bill (群收款) to the group chat, and everyone taps to pay their 80.

Everyone except you.

5.1 Why your phone says no

A group bill is a payment to a person, not to a shop. On a foreign card, WeChat and Alipay only pay shops. Your tap goes nowhere, and six people watch you try three more times.

(For the record, the person collecting starts it from the + at the top right of the Chats screen → Money (收付款) → Group Bill (群收款). It's their move, not yours.)

5.2 What to do instead

• Pay the whole bill at the till. That's a shop payment, so your card works fine. Your friends settle with you in cash. You also look generous. Win win.
• Pay your share in cash. Low tech, always works.
• Cover the next round. Coffee, taxi, dessert. Everyone understands.

On a big bill, remember the 3% fee if you pay the whole thing on your card. On a 2,000 RMB banquet that's about 60 RMB, which is still cheaper than the awkward silence.

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6. When everything fails: the fallback list

Sometimes nothing digital works. Your phone died. The shop's system is down. Your account is temporarily restricted. Work down this list:

1. Try the other app. WeChat failed? Use Alipay. And the other way round.

2. Try the other direction. If scanning their code fails, ask to show yours (§4).

3. Ask the person you're with to pay, and pay them back later in cash. Normal move. Nobody minds.

4. Cash. Yes, it still works. Most shops keep some change, and the ones that don't will point you to an ATM. Keep a few hundred RMB on you day to day (Chapter 01 has you land with about 1,000 for the hotel deposit).

   Some places are cash only to begin with: older market stalls, some rural shops, temple donation boxes. Cash isn't dead. It's just retired.

   Carry small notes. A 100 RMB note is a problem at a stall selling 15 RMB snacks, especially early in the day. Expect 没零钱 (méi líng qián, "no change") or 找不开 (zhǎo bù kāi, "can't break it"). Break big notes at a supermarket or convenience store, ask a bank counter for small notes, and keep 10s and 20s for stalls. A stall that simply has no change isn't breaking any rule, and at lunchtime it's quicker to have the right notes than to argue.

   Refusing RMB cash outright is a different thing. Since 1 February 2026 it breaks the central bank's cash payment rules (人民币现金收付及服务规定), which also tell businesses to keep reasonable change. If a shop won't take cash at all, you can report it on 12363 (Chinese only). Don't argue at the counter.

5. The owner lets it slide. It really happens at small places, for small amounts. Come back tomorrow with cash.

What never works: paying a small Chinese business in dollars or euros. They can't deposit it, can't check the notes, and don't know anyone who can change them. Don't even ask.

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7. Sidebar: what you'll actually pay in fees

A typical 7 day trip, everything paid with a foreign card linked to Alipay or WeChat:

What	How often	Size	Fee
Meals, snacks, coffee	3–5 a day	¥15–150	Free (under ¥200)
Metro, buses, Didi in town	3–6 a day	¥3–60	Free
Convenience store, water, SIM top up	Daily	¥5–100	Free
One nice dinner	Once or twice	¥300–600	~3%, about ¥9–18
Train ticket (Shanghai → Beijing)	Once	~¥600	~3%, about ¥18
Hotel, 6 nights	Once	¥3,000+	~3%, or pay the hotel by card at the desk

The takeaway: most of your spending is small and costs nothing extra. The fee only matters on a handful of big payments. For those, pay the hotel or booking site with your card directly where you can.

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8. Two line summary for your wallet

1. Before you fly: install Alipay, register with your home number, link your Visa or Mastercard, verify your passport. You can pay for almost anything from the moment you land.
2. Once you're there: set up WeChat Pay too if you're hanging out with Chinese friends. Keep a few hundred RMB in cash for the day everything breaks, and for paying friends back.

— End of Chapter 2