支付宝Everywhere
How to use Alipay in China: foreign card, QR, coupons
Nobody carries cash. Your Visa, JCB or Mastercard inside Alipay works at street stalls. PayPay, Kakao Pay and Naver Pay work at many shops too.
Set this up at home first
Alipay
支付宝EssentialPay 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
Step by step
- Before flying: install Alipay, add your card, verify your passport. Do the same in WeChat Pay as a backup.
- Small shop shows a printed QR: tap Scan, scan it, type the amount they say, confirm. Show them the green tick.
- Big shop or convenience store: tap Pay (付钱), show your barcode, they scan it. Done in one second.
- Fees: ¥200 or less is usually free on Alipay and WeChat Pay with a foreign card; above ¥200 the app may charge about 3% of the full amount. Check the confirmation screen before you pay. Your own bank may also charge a foreign-transaction fee.
Coupons and how to spend less
- Coupons: after you finish passport verification, open the Alipay home. Overseas accounts often show a travel or welcome voucher pack on the front page — claim it before you fly. Amounts and rules change; take whatever the app offers that day.
- City deals: in China, use Alipay search for inbound tourism coupons (city or province packs — names rotate, e.g. Zhejiang's 嗨游 / ZheJiangTravel). Finish real-name first; they are usually first-come and expire in a few days.
- At checkout: before you confirm, look on the pay screen for coupons or discounts and tap to apply. Brand mini-programs and 口碑-style pages sometimes have extra shop coupons too.
- Fees: with a foreign card, ¥200 or less per tap is usually free of Alipay's service fee; above that the app may charge about 3% of the full amount. Prefer snacks, metro and small shops at or under ¥200 when you can, and check your own bank's foreign-transaction fee.
- Skip prepaid top-ups sold as Tour Pass / TourCard for everyday QR if they charge a top-up fee (often around 5%). Linking Visa/Mastercard/JCB directly is usually cheaper for shops. New TourCard sign-ups have been winding down — don't chase one just to save.
Where to go
Everywhere. Even the douzhi shop and the old man selling jianbing take QR. Keep about 300 RMB in cash for the rare exception.
The one mistake
Trusting hotel Wi-Fi to verify your card. Do the setup at home, on your own network, a week before.
Show this to staff
Also useful
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
Before you fly
Cash or apps?
Alipay with your home card covers 95 percent of the trip. Set it up at home, and claim any travel or welcome coupons that show on the Alipay home page before you fly. Carry about 300 RMB in small notes for the rest. Bank of China ATMs accept foreign cards.
Related guides
Do you need a visa?
Check your passport against China's official lists.