二
Payments — do this at home, not at the airport
2 weeks before
Why this section matters most: China is nearly cashless. Street food, taxis, metro, temple tickets — almost everything is paid by scanning a QR code with your phone. Foreign credit cards work in big hotels and little else. Your Visa card alone will not feed you.
Install Alipay and link your Visa or Mastercard
Download the international Alipay app (full English interface). Add your card under Account → Bank Cards. Takes about 15 minutes. No Chinese bank account or phone number needed.
Complete passport verification in Alipay
Photo of your passport page plus a quick face scan. Don't skip this — unverified accounts are capped per transaction, and the cap fails exactly when it hurts: hotel bills, nice dinners, train tickets.
Set up WeChat Pay as your backup
Some small shops and market stalls only take WeChat. In the app: Me → Services → Wallet → add your card, then verify with your passport. If "Services" doesn't appear, it activates once someone sends you a small payment in chat.
Already use Revolut or Wise? Link that card instead
Both work in Alipay and WeChat Pay like any Visa or Mastercard — and their CHF→RMB exchange rate is usually better than a Swiss bank card's. Top up before you fly so a payment never fails on an empty balance.
Know where your physical card still works
Tapping a credit card directly works in 4–5 star hotels, airports, and big malls — and that's about it. ATMs at Bank of China and ICBC take foreign cards if you need cash; Revolut and Wise are good here too.
Tell your bank you're traveling
The first Alipay charge from China looks suspicious to Swiss fraud systems. One message to your bank saves you a blocked card on day one.
Bring a little cash anyway
200–500 RMB in small notes. Legally everyone must accept cash; practically, small vendors hate making change. It's your fallback, not your wallet.
三
Phone & apps
1 week before
Get an eSIM or roaming plan that works in China
An international eSIM (Airalo, Holafly, or your Swiss provider's data package) routes around Chinese internet restrictions — Google Maps, WhatsApp, and Gmail keep working without any extra setup.
Install a translation app that works offline
Download the Chinese offline pack in Google Translate before you fly. The camera mode reads menus. Outside the big cities, assume nobody speaks English — and that everyone is patient with a phone screen.
Install Amap (高德) or Apple Maps for navigation
Google Maps data inside China is years out of date. Amap is what locals use; Apple Maps works well in China too. Metro routing, walking directions, real opening hours.
Install a VPN before you fly — not after
If you're on a foreign eSIM or roaming, your internet routes through home and everything just works — no VPN needed. But the moment you join hotel or café WiFi, Google, WhatsApp, and Instagram disappear. A VPN fixes that, and it can only be installed before arrival — the download pages are blocked inside China.
Install Didi for taxis
China's Uber. It's also built into Alipay as a mini-program, so you can skip the separate app: Alipay → search "Didi". Type your destination, no Chinese needed, payment happens automatically.
五
Eating & speaking
good to know
Expect the menu to be a QR code on the table
In most restaurants you scan, order, and pay from your phone — often with no paper menu and no English version. Your translation app's camera mode handles it; in WeChat, long-press any photo in a menu to translate it directly.
Learn the spice words before you learn anything else
不要辣 (bú yào là — no chili) and 微辣 (wēi là — mild) are the two most useful phrases in China. Sichuan, Chongqing, and Hunan food is seriously spicy by Swiss standards — "mild" there equals "hot" here. Cantonese, Shanghai, and Beijing cooking is gentle. Screenshot these characters; pointing works.
Vegetarian or allergies? Prepare a card in Chinese
Save a note in Chinese stating exactly what you can't eat — 我吃素 (I'm vegetarian), or your allergy spelled out. Important: meat broth and lard hide in "vegetable" dishes, so the card matters more than the menu. Show it before ordering, every time.
Don't drink the tap water
Bottled water is everywhere and costs almost nothing; hotels provide it. Restaurants serve hot water or tea by default — that's normal, not a mistake. Ice in big-city restaurants is fine; street-stall ice, skip.
Set your English expectations to zero — and relax
Outside international hotels and airline counters, assume nobody speaks English, including young people. It matters less than you'd think: everyone is used to phone-mediated conversations, so the translation app's voice mode becomes a normal way to talk. Patience plus a screen gets you anywhere.
六
Plugs, power & packing
when packing
Pack one travel adapter — Swiss plugs don't fit
China uses flat-pin sockets (US-style Type A and the angled Type I), at 220V. Your Swiss three-round-pin plug needs an adapter; one universal adapter covers everything. Many hotel rooms also have USB and USB-C ports built into the desk.
Laptop and phone chargers: only the plug shape changes
Modern chargers handle 100–240V, so your MacBook or USB-C charger works fine through the adapter — no voltage converter needed. Check the small print on older devices like hair tools; those are the exception.
Power bank: carry-on only, under 100Wh — and read this if you'll fly inside China
Worldwide rule: power banks go in hand luggage, never checked, max 100Wh — a standard 20,000mAh bank (~74Wh) is safely under. China-specific trap: since June 2025, security on domestic Chinese flights confiscates any power bank without a Chinese "CCC" safety mark — which almost no power bank bought in Europe has. If your route includes a flight inside China, plan to buy a cheap CCC-marked one there (any Miniso or electronics shop) and treat your European one as confiscation-risk.
Bring one USB cable more than you think you need
Your phone becomes your wallet, ticket, translator, and map — it will be at 30% by mid-afternoon. Cafés and trains have charging points; the cable is on you.
游
That was the easy part.
Thirty-three boxes, and you haven't chosen a single place to eat, a town worth a detour, or what to do when the plan meets reality. That part is what I do — itineraries built from places I actually know, or me traveling with you.
Let's discuss more