The apps to install before you fly

The short list

• Maps — Amap (高德地图) has an English mode and the most complete data, down to subway exit numbers and walking times; Apple Maps also works well in China. Google Maps is unreliable here.
• Taxis — DiDi. English input in the app, and it pays through Alipay or WeChat.
• Paying — Alipay + WeChat. Link a foreign card at home — see the payments guide.
• Translation — an AI assistant such as Doubao (豆包) is what many travellers now use on the ground: it handles camera translation of menus and signs and back-and-forth conversation, and works on any local connection with no VPN. Signing up needs a Chinese phone number, which is a real hassle without one — see No Chinese phone number? below. (ByteDance’s overseas version, Dola, has an English interface but isn’t available in every country.) Baidu Translate is the easy no-VPN fallback — camera and voice, quick signup. Keep Google Translate as well, with the Chinese pack downloaded for offline use before you fly. Pleco is the standard dictionary for single characters.
• Trains & hotels — Trip.com — fully in English, takes foreign Visa and Mastercard, English customer service. The official rail app is 12306, which is Chinese-first.
• Messaging — WeChat. You’ll need it to stay in touch with anyone local, and for services that live inside it.
• Getting online — a roaming eSIM or a VPN app, installed and tested before you fly. See the eSIM vs VPN guide.

No Chinese phone number?

Some apps (Doubao among them) and a few booking flows want a +86 mobile number. The simplest fix: buy a local SIM at the arrival hall before you leave the airport — China Unicom and China Mobile run counters in the international arrivals area of every major port, selling short-stay tourist SIMs with a Chinese number and a data bundle. You need your passport; a week or two of data is cheap, and it makes local calls, app sign-ups and some bookings far smoother.

It does not get you past the firewall on its own — pair it with a roaming eSIM or a VPN for blocked sites (see the eSIM vs VPN guide).

Nice to have

• Xiaohongshu (小红书 / “RED”) — half social feed, half review site, and one of the better ways to find a specific restaurant, café or photo spot. Increasingly usable for foreigners, and image search works across the language barrier.
• Douyin (抖音) — the mainland version of TikTok; handy for spotting what’s trending locally, but Chinese-first and more entertainment than tool.
• A metro app such as MetroMan for offline subway maps.
• Meituan / Dianping for food, though they’re Chinese-first.
• A currency converter that works offline.

Set-up order, at home

1. App store: install everything above while you have a clean connection.
2. Sign in and verify (passport / home phone number) now, not in the arrivals hall.
3. Download offline: maps for your cities, the translation language pack.
4. Test a payment, and your eSIM or VPN, before you leave.

• Making Google Maps usable in China — it isn't; use Amap or Apple Maps.
• One single app that does everything — WeChat and Alipay come closest, but not for maps.
• App features that need a Chinese ID or bank account to unlock.