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.
Every guide gives you a list of twenty apps. You will open six, and two of those only when something goes wrong. Here they are, with what they replace.
The four that matter
- Alipay — payment, and increasingly everything else inside it.
- A map that works in China — the local ones have the accurate data, the foreign ones do not.
- A ride-hailing app — replaces street hailing entirely.
- The official rail app or site — for tickets and, more usefully, for checking delays.
The two that are nice to have
A translator with offline camera mode, and a VPN you have set up before you arrive. The second one must be installed and tested before you land; installing it after is the classic mistake.