15 Essential Apps for Traveling in China
(Download These Before You Fly)

China blocks Google, Gmail, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and most Western news sites. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) lets you bypass these restrictions by routing your traffic through a server outside China. The key point: you must download and configure your VPN before you arrive — the websites of VPN providers are themselves blocked inside China, so you cannot purchase or download one once you land. Of the major providers, ExpressVPN, NordVPN, and Astrill are consistently rated as the most reliable for China connections, though no VPN is 100% guaranteed during politically sensitive periods. Pay for a subscription, install the app, test it, and make sure it connects successfully before your trip. Keep a backup provider installed as a second option.

WeChat is the single most important app for any visitor to China. It is simultaneously a messaging platform, a mobile payment system, a hotel booking tool, a restaurant reservation system, a ride-hailing shortcut, and a social network — all in one app. Nearly every business in China has a WeChat account. Locals use WeChat Pay to settle virtually every payment from street food stalls to luxury hotels. As a foreigner, you can use WeChat for messaging (no VPN needed), and with some extra steps, you can link a foreign Visa or Mastercard to WeChat Pay for payments. Register your account before you travel — new WeChat accounts require verification by an existing user, which is much easier to arrange at home. See our detailed setup guide at WeChat & Alipay for Foreigners.

Alipay is China's other dominant mobile payment platform, owned by Alibaba. The international version of Alipay now allows foreigners to link a foreign Visa, Mastercard, or Maestro card and pay directly using a QR code — without needing a Chinese bank account. This is a significant change from a few years ago and makes cash far less necessary than it used to be. Download the international version, set up your account, and link your card before departure. Accepted almost everywhere: supermarkets, restaurants, taxis, tourist attractions, and online bookings. Having both WeChat Pay and Alipay set up gives you the broadest coverage possible. Full instructions are in our WeChat & Alipay for Foreigners guide.

Didi is China's dominant ride-hailing platform — essentially the local equivalent of Uber. The international version of the app is available outside China and supports English, making it accessible to foreign visitors. You can pay by card, WeChat Pay, or Alipay. Didi operates in all major Chinese cities and is generally cheaper than metered taxis. One important practical tip: have your destination written in Chinese characters, as many drivers do not speak English. Didi's in-app messaging feature has a basic translation function for communicating with drivers. For a full walkthrough of using Didi as a foreigner — including how to handle the driver calling you — see our Didi Guide for Foreigners.

Trip.com (formerly Ctrip in China) is the largest travel booking platform in Asia and the easiest way for foreigners to book high-speed trains, domestic flights, and hotels in China — all in English, with foreign credit card payment. It covers the entire national rail network, shows real-time seat availability, and sends e-tickets directly to your app. For high-speed rail, you can show your e-ticket QR code at the station gate without needing to queue at a ticket window. Trip.com also handles airport transfers, tours, and attraction tickets. While the official train booking app (12306, listed below) is the primary source, Trip.com charges a small service fee and is far more foreigner-friendly. Highly recommended as your primary booking tool. Also see our China High-Speed Rail Guide.

Google Maps data in China is notoriously inaccurate — a deliberate offset in GPS coordinates required by Chinese law means the roads and points of interest often do not line up with reality. Baidu Maps and Amap (AutoNavi, owned by Alibaba) both use corrected Chinese coordinate systems and are dramatically more accurate for navigation within the country. Baidu Maps has an English mode accessible in settings. Amap (AutoNavi) is considered by many expats to have slightly better data for public transit routing. Download at least one of these before you go. For international visitors who prefer a familiar interface, Baidu Maps is the slightly easier starting point.

Google Translate's camera mode — which overlays live translations onto text seen through your phone camera — is invaluable for reading restaurant menus, shop signs, museum labels, and product packaging. The app works with a VPN active (see App #1). Crucially, download the Chinese offline language pack before you travel: this allows the camera translation feature to work without any internet connection, which is useful in areas with poor signal or when your VPN is slow. The offline pack is about 50–70 MB. Go to Google Translate > Languages > Chinese (Simplified) > Download. This is one of the most genuinely useful tools you will use every day.

Pleco is the gold standard Chinese dictionary app among language learners, expats, and travelers alike. Unlike general translation tools, Pleco is built specifically for Chinese and excels at looking up individual characters, compound words, and phrases with detailed definitions, stroke order diagrams, and pronunciation guides. Its most useful feature for travelers is the built-in optical character recognition (OCR) flashcard reader: point your camera at any Chinese text and tap characters to look them up instantly — entirely offline, with no VPN needed. Indispensable for deciphering menus in local restaurants that have no English, reading signs in smaller cities, and understanding product labels. The free version is comprehensive; the paid dictionary add-ons are worthwhile for serious learners but unnecessary for casual travelers.

Microsoft Translator is a solid alternative to Google Translate that works in China without a VPN — Microsoft's services are not blocked by the Great Firewall. It supports camera translation (point and shoot), voice translation, and a handy conversation mode where two people can speak in different languages and see each other's translations on screen. The quality for Chinese-English is very good, though Google Translate's camera mode has a slight edge for complex character recognition. Keep Microsoft Translator as your backup for moments when your VPN is not connecting and you need immediate help reading something. Also available offline with a downloaded Chinese language pack.

Meituan is the dominant food delivery and local services platform in China — think DoorDash combined with a restaurant discovery app and a hotel booking site. Hundreds of millions of Chinese residents use it daily. For foreigners, it is genuinely difficult to use without reading Chinese, as the app has no English mode and the restaurant listings, reviews, and ordering process are entirely in Chinese. That said, if you are traveling with a Chinese-speaking friend or colleague, Meituan's food delivery is incredibly fast (often 20–30 minutes) and cheap. Some travelers use Google Translate's camera mode to navigate the interface. Worth having installed but manage expectations: it is a Chinese app designed for Chinese users.

Dianping is China's leading restaurant review platform — essentially the local version of Yelp or TripAdvisor for food. Owned by Meituan, it has tens of millions of restaurant listings across China with user ratings, photos, price ranges, and opening hours. While the app is primarily in Chinese, the star ratings and photo galleries are universally readable, and Google Translate's camera mode can help you decipher menus and reviews. Searching by neighborhood and cuisine type is possible even without Chinese fluency. For finding where locals actually eat — including the hidden alley noodle shops and family-run dumplings spots that never appear in English travel guides — Dianping is one of the most valuable tools you can carry.

12306 is the official Chinese National Railway booking app — the sole authoritative source for all high-speed and conventional rail tickets in the country. It has an English interface and foreigners can book with a foreign passport and pay by foreign card. The catch is that the registration and booking process is notoriously clunky: the app requires a real-name verification process, the interface has a steep learning curve, and during peak travel periods (Golden Week, Spring Festival, summer holidays) tickets sell out within seconds of release. For most foreign travelers, Trip.com (App #5) is a much easier alternative that draws from the same 12306 inventory with a cleaner interface. Install 12306 as a backup, but rely on Trip.com as your primary booking tool. Full details on navigating the rail booking system are in our China High-Speed Rail Guide.

China's major cities — Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu — have extensive and modern metro systems that are the fastest and cheapest way to get around. Several third-party apps provide clear, offline-capable metro maps with journey planners. "China Metro" on iOS and Android covers all major cities in a single app with English labels. Alternatively, each city often has its own official metro app: Shanghai Metro is particularly well designed for foreigners. Download whichever app covers your destinations before you leave home. Metro fares are paid by scanning the app's QR code at the turnstile (linked to WeChat Pay or Alipay), or with a rechargeable transit card available at station service counters.

XE Currency provides live exchange rates and a simple currency converter — essential for keeping track of what you are actually spending when prices are in Chinese yuan (CNY / RMB). At time of writing, one US dollar buys approximately 7.2 yuan, and one British pound buys approximately 9.1 yuan, but rates fluctuate. XE works without a VPN and updates in real time when you have internet access, or uses the last cached rate when offline. While you will rarely need to do mental math (payment apps handle conversions automatically), XE is useful when shopping at markets, comparing hotel prices, or evaluating tour costs where bargaining is involved.

Despite its coordinate inaccuracies inside Chinese cities (where Baidu Maps or Amap are better), Google Maps is still valuable for route planning, understanding city layouts, and getting an overview of areas before you arrive. More importantly, Google Maps allows you to download entire city maps for offline use — download the offline maps for every city you plan to visit before you board your flight. This gives you a functional street map even without any internet connection or VPN. In practice, use Google Maps for big-picture orientation and trip planning, and switch to Baidu Maps or Amap for turn-by-turn navigation within Chinese cities. Remember: Google Maps requires your VPN to be active in China.