Everything in the order
it happens.
Not by topic — by the sequence you will actually meet them in. Each page carries the date it was last checked.
Before you fly
The paperwork that decides how the first hour goes.
Getting online: eSIM versus a local SIM
Buying data before you land costs slightly more and removes an hour of queueing. Here is when that trade is worth it, and when it isn't.
Visa-free transit and the arrival card
Two separate rules that people constantly merge into one. Getting them confused is how a short connection becomes a long conversation.
The six apps you will actually open
Not a top-ten list. Six apps, what each one replaces, and which two you can survive without.
After you land
Payment, data, trains, taxis — in the order they come up.
Paying in China with a foreign card
Alipay will take a Visa card issued abroad. What it won't tell you is which merchants still refuse it, and why your first payment sometimes fails for no reason at all.
Booking a high-speed train in English
The official site works in English and takes a foreign passport. The hard part is not the booking, it is knowing which of the city's stations you just chose.
Airport to the city: which option to take
Four ways in, and the right one depends entirely on what time you land and how much luggage you are carrying.