Most foreigners landing in mainland China discover the same thing on day one: Google Maps doesn't open, nobody uses Uber, Facebook is gone — yet everyone around them is paying, ordering food, hailing rides, scrolling news and chatting on their phone with zero friction. The reason is simple: Chinese mobile internet runs on its own stack of dominant apps.

This is a category-by-category shortlist of what locals actually use in 2026. Install the ones that match your trip and you'll get along fine.

Tip: a roaming eSIM (Airalo / Nomad / Holafly China packs) gives you native access to Google / Instagram / YouTube without a VPN. See the no-VPN inbound guide and the carrier and provider directory.

Payments

QR-code payment is the default. Even small street stalls expect it.

  • WeChat Pay — weixin.qq.com — bind an international Visa / Mastercard in Wallet; per-tx cap roughly USD 200.
  • Alipay — alipay.com — open the international version, use Tour Card to bind Visa / Master and pay anywhere QR is accepted.

Food delivery

  • Meituan — meituan.com — by far the biggest delivery and local-services super-app.
  • JD (Jingdong) — jd.com — also runs a delivery network; popular for grocery and convenience.
  • Taobao / Ele.me — taobao.com — Alibaba's marketplace; Ele.me is the delivery arm.

Shopping

  • Taobao — taobao.com — the catch-all marketplace (similar in scope to eBay + Amazon).
  • Tmall — tmall.com — Alibaba's brand-store side, more curated than Taobao.
  • JD — jd.com — known for fast first-party logistics, especially for electronics.
  • Pinduoduo — pinduoduo.com — group-buy / value-driven marketplace.
  • Meituan — meituan.com — also covers grocery and local goods.

Maps & navigation

Google Maps is unreliable on Chinese roads even when it loads. Use a local app.

  • Amap (Gaode) — amap.com — Alibaba-owned; the most accurate driving and walking nav.
  • Baidu Maps — map.baidu.com — strong on POIs and public transit.
  • Tencent Maps — map.qq.com — integrated tightly with WeChat.
  • Apple Maps — built in; works fine in cities for basic nav.
  • Google Maps — accessible if you're on a roaming eSIM, but POI data inside China is outdated.

Social & content

  • WeChat (Weixin) — weixin.qq.com — messenger, payments, mini-programs, social timeline; the single most important app.
  • Weibo — weibo.com — China's Twitter analog for news and entertainment chatter.
  • Xiaohongshu (RedNote) — xiaohongshu.com — lifestyle and shopping recommendations; great for restaurants and trips.
  • Douyin — douyin.com — TikTok's domestic version.
  • Bilibili — bilibili.com — long-form video, ACG / tech communities.
  • QQ — im.qq.com — older messenger, still common among younger users.
  • Douban — douban.com — film / book / music ratings and communities.
  • Jike — okjike.com — interest-graph social network favored by tech-and-design crowd.

Transport & travel

  • 12306 — 12306.cn — the only official channel for high-speed rail tickets.
  • Ctrip (Trip.com) — ctrip.com — flights, hotels, trains, attractions.
  • Tongcheng — ly.com — also covers transport and hotels.
  • Bike-share (Meituan Bike / HelloBike / DiDi Bike) — built into the Meituan / Alipay / DiDi super-apps; scan a QR on the bike to ride.

Translation

AI

China's AI scene moves fast; most of these have English-friendly web UIs.

  • Doubao — doubao.com — ByteDance's mainstream assistant.
  • DeepSeek — deepseek.com — strong open-weight reasoning models.
  • Zhipu (ChatGLM) — zhipuai.cn — enterprise-leaning, multimodal.
  • Kimi (Moonshot) — kimi.moonshot.cn — known for long-context document Q&A.
  • MiniMax — minimaxi.com — strong on voice / video generation.

Banking

You'll need a Chinese bank account only for a long stay (work / study). Short trips: just use Alipay / WeChat with your foreign card.

Portals & news

Music

  • Kugou — kugou.com — large library, free tier.
  • QQ Music — y.qq.com — Tencent's flagship music service.
  • Qishui (Soda) Music — qishui.com — ByteDance's music app, integrated with Douyin.

Telecom carriers

If you decide to get a local SIM (vs. a roaming eSIM), pick one of these.

For a no-real-name-ID, no-VPN option that just works the moment you land, see the no-VPN inbound guide.

Minimal pack for a 1-week trip

If you're only here for a week, install just these five:

  1. WeChat (everything social + payments + mini-programs)
  2. Alipay (payments, transit QR, embassy-level utility)
  3. Amap or Baidu Maps (navigation)
  4. Meituan (food delivery + bike-share)
  5. DiDi (ride-hailing) — works inside WeChat mini-program too

That's enough to live, eat, get around, and pay for everything.

Related reading

Want a curated app list for your specific scenario (business trip, family travel, student exchange)? Tap AI advisor at the top of any page.