Alipay - used by everyone in China
Alipay .. OK I'm in China i need alipay right ? .. pretty much everyone wants you pay using alipay even beggers have QR codes. The good .. easy to pay for services either scan their QR code, let them scan yours or tap and go ( you have a pass code ) , quick and easy . You can also use the app to order taxis ( well didi ( like uber)) which again is easy . Don't try and get to fancy and register a balance as you start to get into Identity stuff . If a transaction is less than 200yuan there is no transaction fee and unless you spend more than 15000yuan you don't need to register ID Bad , alipay one day just got restricted, basically blocked .. help line will just tell you to open a new account , just do it it's easy , use a email address, if you haven't got a spare email address set up a free one while at home. I was up and running again in 5 minutes with my new account . Make sure you have Internet all the time and as a side note carry a battery powerbank , the translation tools , maps and alipay all use juice ( vpn a good idea if you're a Google junky ) Gmail addresses do work with alipay , also my prepaid credit card from post office works with alipay so extra security there Overall whatever you think of alipay it's going to make china a lot smoother ( I'd still carry some cash though you may or may not be able to get change hahah)