The setup, in four moves
Install both apps before you fly
Alipay and WeChat. Not one or the other: shops sometimes take only one, and when a payment mysteriously fails in one app, the other usually works. Both onboard with a foreign passport and phone number.
Link your Visa or Mastercard
In each app, add your international card under the wallet or "bank cards" section and complete identity verification with your passport. Do it on home wifi, before the trip, while your bank can text you verification codes without roaming drama.
Learn the two QR moves
You either scan their code (street stalls, small shops: scan, type the amount, show the screen) or show your payment code (supermarkets, chains: they scan you). That is the entire skill. Practice once at the airport convenience store.
Carry a little cash anyway
A few hundred yuan covers the failure cases: temple donation boxes, tiny village stalls, the day your bank flags China and freezes the card. Shops are legally required to accept cash, and ATMs at major banks take foreign cards.
Watch it done
The official Alipay walkthrough below shows the exact screens you will see. For WeChat Pay, the official written guide covers the same flow step by step.
Official Alipay channel · step-by-step setup and payment
The official guides
Alipay: official video guide →WeChat Pay: official card guide →Both are the platforms' own materials, so the screenshots match what the apps actually show. If a third-party tutorial and the official guide disagree, trust the official one; the flows change a few times a year.
The one call that saves your trip
Tell your bank you are going to China before you go. The most common payment disaster is not a Chinese system failing; it is a home bank silently blocking the card after the first foreign QR charge. One pre-trip travel notice, or enabling it in your banking app, removes most of that risk.
Straight answers
What are the fees for using a foreign card in Alipay or WeChat Pay?
Small payments are typically fee-free and larger ones carry a small surcharge around 3 percent, on top of whatever your bank charges for foreign transactions. The scheme has changed before, so treat the exact thresholds as please-verify. Even with the surcharge it beats airport currency counters.
Where does mobile pay with a foreign card still fail?
Some person-to-person transfers, some deposit and refund flows (shared bikes, hotel deposits), occasional small merchants whose accounts cannot take international cards, and anything that wants a Chinese bank account behind it. The fix is usually the other app, a different card, or cash.
Do I need cash in China in 2026?
As a backup, yes: a few hundred yuan. As a primary method, no. You can land with nothing and pay for the airport train with your phone. The cash is for the long tail and for the day your home bank decides China looks suspicious.
Should I exchange money before arriving?
A small amount if it calms you, but rates at home are usually worse than just withdrawing from a Bank of China or ICBC ATM after landing. Skip airport exchange counters on both ends; they price for the captive audience.
Is tipping expected in China?
No. Restaurants, taxis and hotels neither expect nor generally accept tips, and trying can cause genuine confusion. Licensed tour guides on private trips are the one common exception where a tip is appreciated.
Related: eSIM & staying connected · Hotels & registration · ask anything at the desk