How to pay in China: four methods compared

Set up Alipay or WeChat Pay before you fly, and keep a little cash as a backup. Both wallets link a foreign card without a Chinese bank account, and most city merchants accept them. A foreign card alone works at hotels and large stores but fails at street stalls. Cash is legal tender, yet small vendors may struggle to give change.

Last verified: 29 October 2026 · Sources: State Council, gov.cn, China Daily, UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Can you set up payments before you land?

Yes, and you should, because both wallets verify you with an SMS code sent to your home number. That code is easy at home and awkward in an arrivals hall. Install Alipay and WeChat, register with the number you will keep active, and complete identity verification with your passport before departure. Then add your card and check that the app shows it as verified.

Alipay is the simpler of the two for a first visit: the app walks you through passport verification and card binding in English, and its help pages cover foreign cards. WeChat Pay works the same way once the account exists, but a new WeChat account can require an existing user to scan a code before it activates. Sort that out with a contact before you fly rather than at the airport.

Have your passport details, card number and the phone that receives your bank’s codes to hand. The name on the wallet must match the passport, so use your full name as printed. If you are still working out your entry paperwork, the China visa application steps and the visa checker settle the dates first, and the eSIM guide makes sure you have data the moment you land.

How do the four methods compare?

The table scores each method on what a visitor actually experiences: the setup, the fees, where it works, and the case where it fails. Read the last column as the failure mode, because that is the one that strands you at a counter with a queue behind you. No single method covers everything, which is why the working answer is usually two of them.

Payment methods for a foreign visitor in China, as of October 2026.

Method	Setup difficulty	Fees	Works where	Fails where
Alipay with a linked foreign card	Moderate: install, passport verification, card binding, all before landing	Typically 3% above CNY 200 per transaction; free at or below it; your bank may add a foreign-exchange fee	Most city merchants, chain stores, transport, online bookings, restaurants	Some personal QR codes, small vendors that only accept domestic wallets, and any shop whose scanner rejects the card network
WeChat Pay with a linked foreign card	Moderate to hard: account verification can need an existing user	Same pattern as Alipay; confirm on the wallet’s help page	Small vendors, markets, taxis, restaurants, anything inside WeChat	New accounts blocked at verification; merchant QR codes tied to a personal account
Foreign card at a terminal	None, beyond telling your bank you are traveling	No wallet fee; the card issuer sets the exchange rate and may charge a foreign-transaction fee	Hotels, airports, large retailers, international restaurants, some hospital cashiers	Street stalls, small shops, most taxis, and terminals that only read UnionPay or need a Chinese ID
Cash in RMB	None: withdraw at an ATM or exchange at a bank	ATM fee typically CNY 20 to 30 per withdrawal, plus your bank’s charge	Everywhere it is accepted, including markets and rural areas	Vendors without change, some prepaid or online purchases, and any counter that has quietly gone cashless

Setup difficulty is a judgment, not a measurement. It depends on your phone, your bank and whether your number can receive texts abroad. Fees are a pattern rather than a quote: the wallet sets its own rule and can change it, so check the help page before you rely on a number. The payments guide covers the mechanics in more detail.

What is the 3% fee actually for?

It is the wallet’s charge for processing a payment funded by a foreign card, and it has a threshold. The pattern reported by travelers and described in provider help pages is a fee of about 3% on transactions above CNY 200, with small payments left free. The threshold is what makes the fee manageable: a week of coffees and metro rides sits below it.

Three details are worth knowing. The fee is charged on top of the transaction rather than deducted from the merchant, so you see it as a separate line. Your card issuer can add its own foreign-exchange or cash-advance fee on top. And refunds usually reverse the payment but can take days to appear, typically three to fifteen business days.

The fee is also why the split between wallet and card matters. A hotel bill paid by card at the desk carries no wallet fee, while the same amount paid through a wallet does. For small purchases the wallet is convenient and free; for large ones, the terminal is usually cheaper. Put the difference against the rest of your spending with the China travel budget.

What are the limits?

Foreign-card payments through the two wallets have caps set by the central bank, not by the merchant. The current pattern is USD 5,000 per transaction and USD 50,000 per year, per person. Those figures were raised in 2024 from much lower levels, which is why older guides quote numbers you will not see today. Confirm the current figure in the wallet’s help page before a large purchase.

ATM withdrawals have their own cap. A single withdrawal is typically limited to CNY 3,000, and each withdrawal carries a fee from the Chinese bank plus whatever your own bank charges. That makes a few larger withdrawals cheaper than many small ones. Banks inside the terminal usually give a better rate than airport exchange counters, and the machine prints a receipt you should keep.

Treat the caps as headroom, not as a plan. A normal holiday never approaches them. They matter if you are paying for a tour, a hotel block or a family group, where a single bill can cross the per-transaction limit and needs to be split or paid by card at the desk.

Which merchants accept which?

Coverage follows size and location. Chain stores, convenience stores, restaurants in tourist areas, metro systems and hotels accept wallets and, increasingly, foreign cards. Street food, wet markets, small family shops and rural vendors are the places where a wallet tied to a foreign card can fail, because their QR code may be a personal account that only takes domestic wallets.

Transport is the test case. Ride-hailing apps charge the linked wallet, and most drivers neither speak English nor carry change, so a wallet is close to essential there. Since 15 June 2025, Beijing’s subway has taken contactless Visa, Mastercard, JCB and American Express cards at every gate, across all 523 stations, so a foreign card alone gets you through the turnstile. The train guide covers rail bookings, which usually need a wallet or a card rather than cash.

City differences are real. Shanghai’s older shops and restaurants are more card-friendly than most, and its metro is straightforward with a wallet; the Shanghai destination guide covers the practical side of arrival. Outside the big cities, plan on a wallet plus cash and treat the card as a hotel instrument.

Should you tip in China?

No, and that is the short answer. Tipping is not customary in restaurants, taxis, hotels or shops, and staff do not expect it. Upscale restaurants sometimes add a service charge to the bill, in which case there is nothing more to add. Leaving coins on a table can cause confusion rather than pleasure.

The exceptions are narrow. A private guide or a driver on a multi-day trip may accept a tip, and it is not refused, but it is a gesture rather than an expectation. Hotel porters are similarly optional. If you want to show appreciation, a tip is fine; if you skip it, nothing is owed. The China itineraries show where guided days usually appear.

Is cash still accepted?

Yes. RMB cash is legal tender, and the State Council’s 2024 push on payment convenience restated that cash must stay usable, with refusal treated as a matter for investigation. That matters at hospitals, government offices and transport counters, where a card reader may not accept your network. In practice, small vendors can still be short of change.

The State Council’s 2024 opinion on improving payment services called for better foreign-card acceptance at hotels, scenic spots, hospitals and transport hubs, and for keeping cash usable, with refusal of RMB cash to be investigated. The same round of measures raised the foreign-card limits on mobile wallets from USD 1,000 to USD 5,000 per transaction and from USD 10,000 to USD 50,000 per year. Close paraphrase of the State Council opinion published on 7 March 2024.

Carry a few hundred yuan for the cases where the phone fails: a market stall, a rural bus, a temple donation box. Break large notes at a convenience store rather than at a taxi. The internet and apps guide covers what to do when an app itself will not load, which is the other half of the same problem.

What is the best first-day setup order?

Do the digital work before you fly, then run this order on arrival. It takes about twenty minutes and leaves you with two working methods instead of one. The practical China hub links the rest of the arrival checklist.

1. Turn on your data plan and confirm the phone is online. A wallet cannot verify a payment without a connection.
2. Open both wallets and check that each shows your card as verified. Do this in the arrivals hall, where Wi-Fi and mobile data both work.
3. Withdraw a few hundred yuan from an airport ATM. Decline the machine’s own conversion offer and let your bank convert.
4. Buy something small, such as water or a metro ticket, through the wallet. A tiny purchase proves the setup works before a large one does.
5. Keep a physical card in a separate pocket from your phone, so a lost phone does not leave you with no way to pay.
6. Photograph your card and passport details, then store the images offline. Recovery is easier with the numbers to hand.

FAQ

Can I use Alipay with a foreign credit card?

Yes. Alipay links Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB, Diners Club and Discover cards after passport verification, without a Chinese bank account. Payments above CNY 200 typically carry a 3% fee, and your own bank may add a foreign-exchange charge.

Do I need a Chinese bank account to pay by phone?

Not for Alipay or WeChat Pay with a linked foreign card. A mainland bank account helps with services that require a Chinese identity, such as some subscriptions or deposits, but a visitor can pay for a whole trip without one.

Why did my payment fail at a small shop?

The shop’s QR code may be a personal account that only accepts mainland wallets, or its scanner may reject foreign card networks. This is common at markets and street stalls. Pay cash instead, and do not keep retrying the same code.

How much cash should I carry?

Enough for a day or two of small purchases, typically a few hundred yuan, plus a reserve note. ATMs are common in cities and accept foreign cards, but each withdrawal costs a fee. Cash is a backup, not the main method.

Do I need to tip guides or drivers?

No. Tipping is not customary and nothing is expected. A private guide or multi-day driver may accept a tip as a gesture, and upscale restaurants may add a service charge to the bill. Otherwise, pay the stated price.