Payment QR
Scan the code carrying the logo of the provider you intend to use. Prefer a merchant code: an international card added to Alipay does not fund person-to-person transfers or red packets.
QR code operating guide
China QR code survival guide for travelers
By TravelerLocal editorial teamPublished Information checked
In short
What should travelers know about QR codes in China?
Read the logo on the code and open that app — the central bank's own guidance is to scan the code carrying the logo of the payment service provider you intend to use. There are only 2 legitimate checkout modes: you scan the merchant's code, or the merchant scans yours. When a transport code fails at a gate, a contactless card usually works instead: Beijing documents Tap to Ride accepting UnionPay QuickPass and overseas-issued Mastercard and Visa.
Prepare payment fallbackApplies to
Travelers using Alipay, Weixin Pay, QR menus, metro QR codes, attraction tickets, mini-programs, table ordering, bike share, and receipts in mainland China.
Check before you rely on it
The rules quoted here come from the central bank's 2024 guide and from Beijing's and Shanghai's own pages, each linked with the date we read it. Transport facts are Beijing's and do not establish what another city accepts.
QR codes are the interface layer of modern China travel: payment, menus, metro, attraction tickets, mini-programs, receipts, and sometimes help. The trick is knowing which app the code expects and what replaces it when the scan fails.
Decision guide
Read the QR by the job it is doing
A QR code can be a payment terminal, menu, ticket, mini-program, or account prompt.
Menu QR
Scan, translate, choose simple dishes, and ask staff if the mini-program requires a local phone number or an unfamiliar payment step.
Transport QR
Beijing's metro code lives inside Alipay. If it fails, Tap to Ride takes UnionPay QuickPass and overseas-issued Mastercard and Visa, and vending machines take Weixin Pay, Alipay, credit card or cash.
City service code
Shanghai's code sits in the Suishenban app, not in a wallet, and needs its own real-name check. Manual passport review is not instant, so treat it as an evening task.
Saveable checklist
Save this QR fallback sequence
1.Identify the job: pay, order, ride, enter, or verify.
2.Look at the logo on the code and open that app first.
3.Use translation camera before confirming payment or order details.
4.At a metro gate, try a contactless card before debugging the phone.
5.Switch to staffed counter, paper menu, cash, or hotel help if stuck.
6.Avoid sending money through unclear personal QR codes.
In short
China QR code questions
Short answers for QR payment, QR menus, mini-programs, transport codes, and first-day fallback decisions.
Which app should I use to scan QR codes in China?
The central bank's visitor guide gives the rule: scan the code carrying the logo of the payment service provider you intend to use, so an Alipay-logo code is scanned with the Alipay app. The deciding signal is printed on the code rather than guessed. Restaurant menu codes and attraction or metro codes are separate flows and may expect the official app or a mini-program instead.
What do I do if the metro gate code will not scan?
In Beijing, tap a contactless card instead. The city documents Tap to Ride accepting UnionPay QuickPass cards issued in China and overseas, plus overseas-issued Mastercard and Visa. Ticket vending machines are documented as taking Weixin Pay, Alipay, credit card or cash, and staffed counters and the Beijing Pass smart card are the other two documented entry methods. This is Beijing's own documentation and does not establish what other cities accept.
Why does a QR code open but not let me finish?
Common blockers include scanning with an app whose logo is not on the code, a personal transfer code rather than a merchant code, missing login, local phone number prompts, mini-program language limits, or weak data. A home e-wallet can also decline after the code scans: Alipay+ states the home wallet may still apply identity checks, payment limits or channel restrictions.
Can I pay with my home country's wallet in China?
Probably not. The wallets published as directly usable in the mainland are from Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR, Southeast Asia, and Japan, South Korea and Mongolia. No North American, European or Australian wallet appears on either the operator's list or the central bank's. Acceptance is signalled by the Alipay+ mark at the checkout counter.
Is a city service code the same as my payment wallet?
No. Shanghai's city code is obtained inside the Suishenban app, not inside a payment wallet, and it needs its own real-name authentication — facial recognition for overseas Chinese passports and permanent residence proof, or manual review of a photographed foreign passport. Manual review is not instant, so do it at the hotel rather than at a gate.
What is the safest QR fallback for first-time visitors?
Ask staff, use translation camera, switch to the app whose logo is on the code, request a paper menu or staffed counter, and keep a payment fallback. Each wallet also publishes an English-language support line, which does not depend on the app that just failed.
QR menu ordering
Use this for restaurant table QR, translation, spice, allergy, and payment fallback.
Open guideMetro QR codes
Prepare city-specific metro QR and ticket fallback before using transit.
Open guidePayment failures
Understand when QR payment fails because of foreign-card, network, or merchant mode.
Open guideThe published rule
Read the logo on the code, do not guess the app
The central bank's visitor guide instructs travelers to scan the code carrying the logo of the payment service provider they intend to use, and gives an Alipay-logo code scanned with the Alipay app as the worked example. The deciding signal is printed on the code.
There are two checkout modes, and that is all
You scan the merchant's code
You open the wallet, scan the code at the counter, and enter the amount yourself.
The merchant scans your code
You show your own payment code and the merchant's scanner reads it.
Source: Ant International — Alipay+ | Pay in the Chinese mainland (read July 24, 2026)
Source: People's Bank of China — Guide to Payment Services in China (2024 edition, page updated May 25, 2024; read July 24, 2026)
Where each app keeps those two actions
- Alipay
- Scan, and Pay/Receive
- Weixin Pay
- The plus sign, then Scan or Money
- UnionPay app
- Scan, and Pay/Collect
These screen names come from the guide's May 2024 edition, which has not been reissued, so they can lag the current app versions. Treat them as where to look, not as a promise about the wording on your screen.
Source: People's Bank of China — Guide to Payment Services in China (English edition, PDF) (May 2024 edition; read July 24, 2026)
The pair you will meet at almost every counter. Which one you scan matters less than whether your wallet was set up and tested before you were standing here — and the national cash rule means a counter may not refuse notes if neither works.
Photograph by Harald Groven, CC BY-SA 2.0 — source and licence
From the authority itself
Shown by the city, not by us
Embedded from the publisher’s own channel rather than a re-upload. Search results for any Chinese landmark are dominated by channels that took someone else’s footage; the videos here were checked back to the body that made them.
One Phone, All of Beijing
Under three minutes following one international visitor through a Beijing day on nothing but a phone — rides, hotel, attraction tickets, food, and paying at the counter. It is a promotional short rather than a walkthrough, so it will not teach you a single screen; what it is good for is seeing that the phone-only day is the normal one here, which is the thing that sounds implausible until you watch someone do it.
Published by Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism (北京市文化和旅游局) — its own YouTube channel, id UCkvkpj9ceJXqPs4Sj7jkwng on its own channel, which describes itself as “Welcome to the official channel of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism.” Channel attribution verified .
This is the city authority's own promotional video, embedded from its own channel — it is not a source for anything on this page. Every figure, deadline and rule here comes from the official documents cited beside it, and those stand whatever a video shows.
Decision table
When the gate code fails, a card in your pocket beats a queue
Beijing documents four entry methods plus a card tap. A contactless card is a better metro fallback than hunting for a ticket machine.
Instead of the code
What Beijing documents
Tap a contactless card
Tap to Ride accepts UnionPay QuickPass cards issued in China and overseas, and overseas-issued Mastercard and Visa cards. A card in your wallet can replace the phone entirely.
Buy at a ticket vending machine
The machines are documented as accepting Weixin Pay, Alipay, credit card or cash.
Use a staffed counter
Counters are one of the four documented entry methods for visitors.
Carry a Beijing Pass
A smart card the city describes as designed for foreign tourists.
The metro code itself lives inside Alipay
The metro code is obtained through Alipay rather than through a separate download, so a failed code is usually an Alipay problem rather than a missing app.
This is Beijing's own documentation of its network of 27 subway lines, including two airport lines, the Xijiao Line, the Yizhuang T1 Line and Suburban Railway Line S2. It does not establish what any other city accepts, and the page carries no fare table.
Source: Beijing Municipal Government — Basic Information of Beijing Subway (page identifier December 29, 2025; read July 24, 2026)
A city service code is a separate registration, not a wallet feature
Shanghai's city code is obtained inside the Suishenban app rather than inside a payment wallet. Eligibility is stated as holding a foreign permanent residence ID card, a foreign passport, or a Chinese citizen passport for those settled abroad. Real-name authentication is done by facial recognition for overseas Chinese passports and permanent residence proof, or by manual review of a photographed foreign passport.
Manual review is not instant, so this is a job for the hotel that evening rather than for a queue at the gate. The page does not state which services or transport the code covers, and does not say whether the mobile number used at registration has to be a mainland one.
Source: Shanghai Municipal Government — Introduction to 'Shanghai QR Code' for foreigners (page identifier April 29, 2024; read July 24, 2026)
Your home wallet probably is not on the accepted list
Acceptance for a home e-wallet is signalled by the Alipay+ mark at the checkout counter. The wallets published as directly usable are from Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR, Southeast Asia, and Japan, South Korea and Mongolia. No North American, European or Australian wallet appears on either the operator's list or the central bank's.
Even where a home wallet is accepted, it may still apply its own identity checks, payment limits or channel restrictions, so a code that scans can still decline. Alipay+ states it adds no fee of its own and settles at rates it updates and discloses each business day.
Source: Ant International — Alipay+ | Pay in the Chinese mainland (read July 24, 2026)
Source: People's Bank of China — Guide to Payment Services in China (2024 edition, page updated May 25, 2024; read July 24, 2026)
English support lines
A stalled code is one phone call from a person
These published service numbers do not depend on the app that failed.
Alipay
- +86 571 2688 6000
- 0571 2688 6000 from a Chinese number
Ant International publishes staffed hours of 08:00-24:00 GMT+8, Monday to Sunday.
Weixin Pay
- +86-571-95017
UnionPay
- +86-21-95516
- +86-21-20556900
- 95516 from a Chinese mainland number
e-CNY
- +86-10-956196
Published as a 24-hour line.
Source: People's Bank of China — Guide to Payment Services in China (2024 edition, page updated May 25, 2024; read July 24, 2026)
Source: Ant International — Alipay+ | Pay in the Chinese mainland (read July 24, 2026)