6 apps to download before you travel to China

Pay anywhere, ride any shared bike, buy metro tickets, hail a Didi, book attraction tickets. One app covers most of the trip.

Do this at home

Install, sign up with your home phone number, add a Visa/Mastercard/JCB, then finish passport verification. Takes about 15 minutes and must be done before you land.

What it replaces

Cash, a transport card, a taxi app, a bike app

How China messages. Also how you reserve the Forbidden City, museums and many restaurants, through mini-programs inside the app.

Do this at home

Install and register early: new accounts sometimes need an existing user to vouch for you, and that is easier to solve at home than in a hotel lobby. Add your card in WeChat Pay as a backup to Alipay.

What it replaces

LINE, KakaoTalk and half the booking websites

The map that is actually right. Google Maps is offset by a few hundred metres in China and has no live transit. Amap has an English mode with walking, metro and bus directions.

Do this at home

Install and switch to English in the settings before you go, so you are not hunting through Chinese menus at the airport.

What it replaces

Google Maps

High-speed train tickets in English, with your passport as the ticket. Also hotels that are licensed to take foreign guests, which not every hotel is.

Do this at home

Create the account and enter every traveller's passport details at home. Book the Beijing to Shanghai train a week ahead; popular departures sell out.

What it replaces

The Chinese-only 12306 railway site

Point the camera at a menu, a sign, a ticket machine. The camera mode is the single most useful thing you will do with your phone here.

Do this at home

Download the Chinese offline pack before you fly. On a Chinese network Google is blocked, so the offline pack is what keeps the camera working if your roaming drops.

What it replaces

Asking someone who does not speak your language

Data that routes through your home country, so Google, LINE, KakaoTalk, Instagram and WhatsApp all work normally. No VPN needed.

Do this at home

Buy from Airalo, Ubigi or your own carrier's roaming plan and install the eSIM at home. Activate it on the plane. Hotel Wi-Fi is a local network, so switch back to data when you need Google.

What it replaces

A local SIM card and a VPN