alipay & wechat pay

first-timers always get surprised by this: china basically doesn’t use cards. your visa won’t work at the noodle shop, the metro gate, or the fruit stand. everything, and we mean everything, runs on scanning qr codes with alipay or wechat pay.

the good news is that since 2023–24 both apps let foreigners link an international card directly. set it up at home and you’ll pay like a local from your first airport coffee.

alipay vs wechat pay: which one do you need?

set up both, but use alipay as your main. here’s why:

most merchants show one qr code that takes both. wechat is mostly essential because it’s how people message in china. hotels, tour guides and new friends will all ask for your wechat.

how to set up alipay as a foreigner, step by step

do this at home, a week before you fly, on good wifi. it usually takes 10–20 minutes.

1. download alipay from your normal app store (search “alipay”, the blue icon by ant group)
2. sign up with your home phone number. you’ll get an sms code, so make sure you can receive texts. the app should switch to english automatically for foreign numbers
3. verify your identity first. go to your profile → identity verification. choose passport, enter your details exactly as they appear on your passport, upload a photo of the photo page, and do the face scan. it can be approved in minutes or take a day or two
4. add your card. in the “bank cards” section, add your visa/mastercard. use your name exactly as it’s printed on the card. you might see a tiny test charge that gets reversed
5. test it. if you can, try a small payment. some people top up a transit card or buy something small through a mini-app to confirm everything works

the “tour card” thing

older guides tell you to use alipay’s tourcard, a prepaid card you load up in advance. it still exists as a mini-app, but it’s now the fallback, not the main way to pay. linking your card directly is cheaper and easier. only use tourcard if your card keeps getting rejected.

how to set up wechat pay as a foreigner

1. download wechat and sign up with your home number. new accounts sometimes need an existing wechat user to “verify” you by scanning a code. if you know anyone with wechat, ask them now, not later
2. open me → services (or “pay”) → wallet → cards and add your international card
3. verify your identity with your passport when prompted. without this, you’ll run into limits fast
4. test with a small payment once you’re in china

wechat is more likely to ask you to re-verify or flag a new account. that’s annoying, but normal. set it up early so it has time to settle.

how to actually pay

there are two ways, and you’ll use both:

• you scan them. small shops have a printed qr code taped to the counter. scan it in alipay, type the amount, pay, and show the cashier your screen
• they scan you. at chains, supermarkets and metro gates, open your pay code (big barcode + qr on the home screen) and they scan it

for the metro, alipay has transport codes for most big cities. search “transport” or the city name in alipay and add it. then you just tap in at the gate. more in our china travel apps guide.

fees and limits for foreign cards (as of late 2026)

this is the stuff that confuses people, so here’s the short version:

• about $30 or less: usually no fee from alipay/wechat
• over about $30: usually a 3% fee on the whole amount, not just the part over $30. a $75 dinner costs about $2 extra
• your bank’s foreign transaction fee may stack on top (often 0–3%). a no-fx-fee travel card is worth it here
• exchange rate: set by visa/mastercard and your bank, not the app

limits: in 2025–26 the per-transaction and annual caps for foreign cards were raised a lot, into the thousands of usd per payment and tens of thousands per year for verified accounts. different sources report slightly different numbers, and unverified accounts get much lower limits. for a normal trip you won’t hit them. if you’re paying for a big hotel stay or a pricey tour, use a regular card at the hotel desk or book through a platform instead.

what if my card gets declined?

it happens (it happened to us — the day my alipay froze in china is the full story). in order of what usually fixes it:

1. check identity verification is complete in the app
2. unlock international/online payments in your banking app and make sure fraud alerts aren’t blocking it
3. try your other card. different bank, different network (mastercard vs visa)
4. switch apps. if alipay fails, try wechat pay, or the other way round
5. use tourcard in alipay as a prepaid fallback
6. pay cash (see below)

you need mobile data for all of this. qr payments, verification texts, and fraud prompts all need a connection. a roaming esim is the least stressful way to make sure your phone is always online. we break down the options in internet in china.

do you still need cash in china?

yes, a little. cash is legal tender and businesses are supposed to accept it. china’s actually been pushing merchants to keep taking it so tourists aren’t left stuck. but small vendors might not have change, and some places really are app-only.

• bring around $75–150 in cash as backup
• atms at major banks (bank of china, icbc, china construction bank) generally accept foreign cards. you may pay a fee and get a per-withdrawal limit
• keep ¥10 and ¥20 notes for street food, small temples and taxis

also: alipay+ wallets from home

if you’re from korea, malaysia, the philippines, thailand or a few other places, your home e-wallet might work directly in china through alipay+ (kakaopay, touch ’n go, gcash and others). check your wallet app. it can skip the foreign-card fee entirely.

pro tips from people who’ve done it

• keep a power bank on you. dead phone = no money, no maps, no metro. it’s the real nightmare scenario

• you can’t screenshot your pay code. it refreshes for security, so you need the live app
• turn on face id / fingerprint pay in the app so checkout is one tap
• save hotel addresses in chinese inside your notes, separate from the payment apps

the vibe check

• download alipay (main) and wechat (backup + messaging), and set up both before you fly
• verify your passport, link a no-fx-fee card, and tell your bank you’re traveling
• under about $30 is free, over that is ~3%. don’t overthink it
• carry $75–150 in cash and a second card for emergencies
• keep your phone online and charged. that’s your wallet now (see how it all played out in our first 48 hours in china)

next up: sort your internet, then book your bullet trains. you’re lowkey 80% ready.

heads up: some links above are affiliate links. if you book through them we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you — it keeps this guide free. more on that.