If you want to have a pleasant and enjoyable time in China, you must know some basic conditions before going. In this post, I have listed 5 things that we must know and do in advance before going to China. Have a look!
1. Buy a Chinese mobile phone card with a local telephone number
Based on my past experiences, I highly recommend to purchase a PrePaid SIM Card. You would want to get map directions, use voice translators, use the popular WeChat app, book Chinese trains, and so much more. But to do all these things, you need network access for your phone, which often requires buying a local China SIM card. For those who may not know, a SIM card (short for “subscriber identity module”) is that little card that goes inside your phone that connects you to local service (phone, text, internet).
Based on my past experiences, I highly recommend to purchase a PrePaid SIM Card. You would want to get map directions, use voice translators, use the popular WeChat app, book Chinese trains, and so much more. But to do all these things, you need network access for your phone, which often requires buying a local China SIM card. For those who may not know, a SIM card (short for “subscriber identity module”) is that little card that goes inside your phone that connects you to local service (phone, text, internet).
Even though you can activate the international roaming on your home country phone plans, it is still not as convenient as you own a local phone number. Because your number is still international so makes it difficult for the local people to contact you at your international number. After personally experienced such inconvenience, I decided to buy a prepaid SIM card with a local phone number in stead and I can tell you what a difference ! Just make sure you must have your phone unlocked to switch SIM card.
You can buy SIM card to use in China on Amazon. I have purchased China SIM card by China Unicom before. It worked out pretty well. You will need to provide a copy of your passport and a photo of you holding the SIM card.
2. Download WeChat and Alipay
WeChat has become an indispensable part of life in China. It is basically “WhatsApp, Facebook, Uber and Apple Pay” in one app. In China, people use mobile payment. WeChat payment is accepted everywhere, more often than cash!
Another payment app in China is Alipay. Alipay and WeChat can be link to bank cards or credit cards. But there’s one catch – it has to be a bank based in China!!
If you stay in China for long, opening a bank account and enable WeChat pay or Alipay is worthwhile.
3. Download VPN
This must be done before you arrive in China. Social medias like instagram, facebook twitters are blocked in China. If you need to access any of them, you will need to use a VPN. We used ExpressVPN last year and it worked out pretty well.
You can also look into
4. Download Google Translate
If you don’t speak Chinese, google translate is a good starting point to get your points crossed. There’s a offline version that I downloaded on my husband’s phone that he used and liked.
5. Notify credit card company about your travel date and destination.
Some credit card has foreign transaction fees so please check with your own and make sure there is no surprise!
Please pin this image to share.
What do you think?