THE MOST USEFUL APPS YOU NEED IN CHINA

Upon arriving in China, I was shocked by how advanced a country it is. It is fast becoming a cashless society and life without a mobile phone would be near impossible.

In this post, I will detail the apps that you simply cannot live without in China. Many of these apps can be used on your existing phone, but to get full functionality long term if you are moving here, then I would recommend probably buying a new phone. China certainly has plenty of smartphone brands to choose from and you can pick up a really good handset at a much lower cost than any of Apple's offerings back home.

1. Bike App - Mobike

I live in Beijing and while public transport is fantastic, it would be a shame to spend all of your time underground riding the metro. One of the best ways to get around the city is by bike. Every street has a dedicated bike lane and there are millions of bikes across the city, yet confusingly, few people own their own bike.

‌Instead of cramping up your apartment with an oily bike, you simply need to download a bike-sharing app. There are many different kinds of bike-sharing apps and they vary in city to city. So when you arrive have a check to see which is the most popular, my favourite is MoBike. When you come across a parked up bicycle that you would like to ride then you open the app, scan the QR code on the bike, hop on and ride off. ‌Once you have reached your destination, park up and snap the lock back into place. Most short rides are as little as ¥1 per ride which is about 10p.

Apps may require you to pay a small deposit when you set them up, but they are very economical. To have access to a bike wherever you are is a great idea I love the share bikes.

2. Mobile Pay App - WeChat and Alipay

The most common method of payment here in China is WeChat. WeChat is a hybrid of WhatsApp, Facebook and Apple Pay, all rolled into one. You can pay for your shopping, taxis and quickly transfer money to your friends. You can even buy movie tickets, pay for your utilities and book rail journeys using WeChat, so it really is no wonder that few people carry cash these days! ‌

Wechat also has a "moments" feature where you can share your stories, photos and video clips with your friends and the private conversation function is the most common method of messaging in China. After a year of living in China, I am still discovering new ways to use the app. As this is one of China’s social media platforms that isn’t blocked you will need to get WeChat to survive here. It is the best way to stay in contact with anyone in China. I believe that now when you sign up it is a little harder and you need to get referred by a friend, but persevere as you will need WeChat in China.

‌A similar app is Alipay which works practically the same as Wechat when it comes to paying, but has a more business-oriented feel. I use it to pay my rent and I would recommend having both apps installed as some businesses prefer to deal with Alipay.

3. Taxi App - Didi

The trouble with taxis is that I don't speak Chinese and most of the drivers don't speak English, which means it’s a little hard to communicate where I want to go. I would either recommend carrying your address, written in Chinese, with you or downloading a taxi app like Didi.

‌This app works much the same as Uber and rides are incredibly cheap. The simple user English interface is easy to use: Simply turn on your GPS, type in your location, where you want to go and bam, a taxi will arrive! You can order different sizes and styles as well as reserving them in the future for say an important airport run. What is also great is you can track the taxi so you know where it is. Sometimes the Didi driver will ring you to tell you he’s at the meeting point or on his way etc, if you can’t speak Chinese then don’t worry. They have a message function that automatically translates it’s from Chinese to English and the same when you reply.

This really is a game-changer!

4. Food Apps - Meituan and JSS/Sherpa

Meituan is so much more than a simple food delivery app. For a small delivery fee, you can have practically anything sent to your home, office or school. There are thousands of different vendors to choose from which sell all manner of goods including food, household goods and everything in between.

‌The drawback to this app is that for the moment at least, the app is only available in Chinese. I recommend getting a Chinese friend to help you set up your default details and from there you can use the pictures to select what you want.

If you find it all to be too much then download JSS or Sherpa- which is an English takeaway app featuring loads of different Western dishes. The prices are higher and the selection more limited but this is a great choice if you are after some home comforts.

5. Social App - Express VPN

This is probably the most important app if you want to be able to access the existing apps that you already love, from within China.

As you may know - Facebook, Instagram and YouTube can't be accessed from inside China. So, how do I get around that?

You need to download a VPN or a virtual private network. It may not look like it does a lot but, at a click of a button it allows you to access all the sites you can back home. There are free VPNs available, but these tend to be very unreliable, so I recommend downloading Express VPN. I have used this since I landed in China a few years ago and it’s been consistently one of the best. Occasionally, there are a few problems like when there is an event happening in China, but that happens to all of the VPN’s and within a few days you are back up and running. (We all need a social media break from time to time, right?)

A year's subscription costs around $100 and you can use it on 5 different devices. If you, like me, spend a lot of time on social media then it is well worth the money. Me and my boyfriend share a subscription and we have it hooked up on both our laptops and phones. Definitely get this BEFORE you come to China as it’s much easy to set up. If you do need to get it up and running whilst you are in China, if you got a new phone for instance, it is still possible and the customer service is also great.

Use my link to sign up today!

Getting by in China is easier than you think these apps will make your daily life here so much easier. If you want to see how some of them work then take a closer look at my video.