First safe move
Start here: Make mobile data work before the first airport-to-hotel transfer.
Back to readiness and recovery answers
Phone and apps
Which China travel apps should be ready before arrival?
In short
Prepare maps, translation, messaging, wallet/payment, and mobile data first. Add ride-hailing or rail tools only after the basics work.
Behind this answer
Official source: People's Bank of China — Guide to Payment Services in China (2024 edition, page updated May 25, 2024; read July 24, 2026)
Operator source: Airalo
Operator source: Apple — Use eSIM while traveling internationally with your iPhone (read July 24, 2026)
Why this answer has no official source
This one is the editors’ judgement, and that is not a gap we are hiding
Which apps to install is editorial, and it has to be: no official page publishes what is reachable, and the payment and transport regulations this site does source describe duties owed to you rather than products to download. The recommendation rests on what each app is for in the sourced layer — a wallet is a licensed payment institution with stated obligations, a ride-hail booking carries stated passenger entitlements, the immigration line 12367 is a published channel.
What would change it: Reachability of any particular app cannot be sourced from anywhere, so treat every confident claim about it, here included, as a field report rather than a rule. What does not change is the fallback layer: cash may not be refused, large venues must accept card and cash, and a paper arrival card still exists.
Editorial check
Reviewed as a concise travel answer
Phone, eSIM, maps, and app answers were reviewed with the current connectivity comparison and setup guidance.
- Information checked
Current app availability, phone number requirements, language support, and account verification flows. Provider plans, device compatibility, app availability, roaming behavior, and network routing can change before departure.
Recovery template
Use the answer as a recovery path, not just a reading page
Start with the immediate move, keep a human or offline fallback, and only rely on live rules after checking the official operator, provider, or source.
Use app setup checklistFallback path
Use saved offline hotel details, home-SIM SMS or roaming, hotel Wi-Fi, provider support, and screenshots until mobile data is stable again.
Do not assume
Do not treat this answer as final live proof. Do not use as proof of current network access, app availability, provider routing, or device compatibility without checking the live provider and device state.
Source boundary
Current app availability, phone number requirements, language support, and account verification flows.
Action path
What to do next
A practical answer should leave the traveler with a few moves they can actually make before the trip or at the point of friction.
1
Make mobile data work before the first airport-to-hotel transfer.
2
Save hotel, route, and support details offline.
3
Treat map, message, and translation apps as dependencies, not decorations.
Answer hub
This answer belongs to a topic cluster
Cluster pages help travelers move through related questions without losing the thread.
Related guides
Continue from the answer
Use these pages when the traveler needs the longer context, product path, or supporting decision.
Related questions
More questions in this cluster
These questions share the same travel problem and help you move sideways without restarting.