Living in China

The China Travel Apps You Actually Need (and What Each Replaces)

By the 17Talk teaching team - certified Mandarin teachers, 8+ years of classroom experience, 3,500+ students in 40 countries
Last updated: 2026-09-23

Quick answer

Five apps cover almost everything: DiDi for taxis, Amap or Baidu Maps for navigation, Pleco for an offline dictionary, Alipay or WeChat for payment, and a camera-translation app for menus and signs. Install and register them before you fly, and download the offline packs - some services you rely on at home are not reachable on Chinese networks.

The five apps, and what each one replaces

This is the short list. Everything else - food delivery, train tickets, museum bookings - is a nice-to-have once these five are working.

App	What it replaces	Works without data?
DiDi (ride-hailing)	Hailing a taxi by hand, arguing about the fare	No - needs a connection
Amap or Baidu Maps	Google Maps, street-sign reading	Partly - download offline city maps
Pleco (dictionary)	A phrasebook, a translation app	Yes, including handwriting and camera OCR
Alipay or WeChat	A bank card, cash	No - the payment app needs a connection
Camera translation	Menu guessing, sign reading	Mostly - OCR works on downloaded language packs

Install order: the one that saves the most time

Do it in the order that avoids dependence: payment first, because almost everything else wants to be paid for; then translation; then navigation with offline maps; then DiDi. Install over a good connection at home, not on airport wifi.

Registration is the bottleneck. Payment apps need a phone number for the verification code, and DiDi and Alipay both want identity verification with your passport, so have the passport to hand and be ready to photograph it.

The part nobody warns you about: the network is not the same

Practical expectation setting, without politics: some services that you use daily at home - Google's apps including Maps and Gmail, WhatsApp, Instagram - are not reachable on Chinese networks. That is why the app list above matters: each one is a local replacement for something you may otherwise assume will just work.

The practical consequence is narrower than people think. Your hotel wifi, your bank's own app, and everything on the list above work. What fails is the habit of reaching for a Western service - so download the replacements before the habit becomes a problem in a taxi queue.

Pleco deserves its own paragraph

If you install only one non-payment app, make it Pleco. It works offline, handles handwriting input with a finger, has a camera function that reads characters, and includes the audio for pronunciation - which is the part you cannot guess from text.

The practical use is not studying: it is menus, medicine labels, shop signs and taxi destinations. Download the free base dictionary and the handwriting add-on before you fly.

Down to two apps if you want the minimum

If you want the shortest possible list: Alipay (or WeChat) plus Pleco. Payment and language are the two things that break a day; navigation can be solved by screenshots and a hotel front desk, and taxis can be found at a rank.

Add DiDi the moment you have a Chinese SIM or eSIM with data, because that is the point at which ride-hailing becomes easier than the street.

Battery, data and the small practical bits

Buy data before the trip: either a China data eSIM or a tourist SIM at the airport, because almost every app above stops being useful offline. Carry a power bank - maps and camera translation eat battery faster than anything else you will do on the trip.

Finally, screenshot the things that matter: your hotel address in Chinese, the booking confirmation, and the passport photo page. Screenshots work when nothing else does.

Common questions

Do I need a Chinese phone number for these apps?

Not always, but it helps. Payment apps need a phone number for verification - your home number usually works - and a Chinese number makes registration and re-verification smoother.

Is Google Maps usable in China?

No. Google's services are not reachable on Chinese networks. Use Amap or Baidu Maps instead, and download offline city maps before you fly.

Which dictionary app should I install?

Pleco. It works offline, supports handwriting input and camera character recognition, and includes audio - which matters more than text definitions when you are reading a menu or a medicine label.

Do these apps work without mobile data?

Pleco works fully offline. Amap or Baidu Maps work with downloaded offline maps. Payment apps, DiDi and translation apps need a connection, so buy data before the trip.

What payment app should I set up first?

Whichever you can verify first - Alipay and WeChat Pay both work for foreign visitors with an overseas card. Payment is the app that everything else depends on, because almost nothing in China is cash-only by design.

Do I need a VPN?

We do not recommend or guide on circumventing network rules, which are subject to regulation. The practical approach is to install the local alternatives on this list before you travel, so nothing essential depends on a service that is unavailable.

How much data do I need?

Modest: maps, messaging and payment are light. A tourist plan with a few GB is usually plenty for a two-week trip, and hotel wifi fills the gaps. Video is the thing that will burn through it.