Alipay
Reddit take
AI summary of the Reddit excerpts below — not a quote
Alipay is considered an essential 'super app' for travelers in mainland China, where digital payments have largely replaced cash. Users report it is highly reliable for everything from luxury mall purchases to street food, and it serves as a central hub for essential services like ride-hailing, public transport, and translation.
Pros
- Supports international credit cards and registration with foreign phone numbers
- All-in-one functionality including Didi (ride-hailing), metro cards, and restaurant ordering
- Widely accepted across China, even by small street vendors
- Includes built-in translation features for text, voice, and images
- Often more complete and faster than competing payment methods for certain tasks
Cons
- The interface and setup process can be clunky at times
- Requires invasive identity verification, including passport and face scans
Caveats
- Registration and verification (passport/card linking) should be completed before arriving in China
- Public transport features specifically require scanning a passport and face within the app
- While widely accepted, users often recommend having WeChat Pay as a backup
Best for
- International travelers visiting mainland China
- Users looking for a single app to manage payments, transport, and navigation
Avoid if
- You have significant privacy concerns regarding sharing biometric and passport data with the platform
This summary uses balanced time weighting with about a 6-month half-life. The evidence is based on 18 mentions from r/travel, providing a consistent view of the app's utility for international visitors.
Sentiment
29 positive (97%) · 1 mixed (3%) · 0 negative (0%)
Trust + time weighted score: +96% · raw score 97%
What redditors said (10 of 30)
1. Download every single app you can for China: WeChat, AliPay, Amap, DiDi, Baidu for starters, Meituan, EleMe for food delivery and a good translate app apart from Google (microsoft should work, even deepseek). REGISTER for these apps BEFORE reaching China, so put your passport details, put your credit card info and all of that.
You need WeChat and Alipay. I just got back from China and there was ZERO places taking cash, I travelled Shenzhen, Chengdu, Chongqing and Dujiangyan
Amap, Alipay, AND WeChat all have ride hailing built in.
for foreign people Alipay can be linked with any International Card now, you can also register with a foreign number.
Download AliPay and link your credit cards in advance, else you want be able to pay for anything, you can also generate a metro card within the app. There is a Didi mini-app within AliPay so you can easily order a car if needed.
Alipay and/or WeChat for payments. Alipay also includes various mini apps, for example also an app for public transport tickets.
Set up Alipay in advance, if you want to use it for public transport you will need to scan your passport and face. It is a bit clunky at times but once you figure it out, it is convenient.
Alipay was incredibly convenient, though.
Yes, that or wepay, and set it up before you leave since it can take a bit of time to hook it up to a local payment provider... Paying with cash in China sucks, and cards are not widely accepted. Everything uses alipay/wepay.
A tip for china- please install alipay
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