Paying and staying online in China as a foreigner

Short answer: Before you fly, install Alipay, verify it with your passport and link a Visa or Mastercard. Payments of ¥200 or less carry no fee; above that you pay 3% of the whole amount. Carry a few hundred yuan in cash as a backup. For data, roaming or a travel eSIM keeps WhatsApp, Google and your email working; a Chinese SIM card doesn't.

In Yunnan almost everyone pays by scanning a QR code, from noodle stalls to temple gates, so a working payment app matters more than a credit card in your wallet.

Fees, limits and costs at a glance

Checked in October 2026. Fees and limits are set by the apps and your card issuer and can change; the app shows the fee before you confirm.

Set up Alipay at home

1. Install Alipay from your usual app store and sign up with your own phone number; international numbers are accepted.
2. Verify your identity with your passport. You need a verified account for the Kunming metro code and some other services. Approval usually takes less than a day and can take up to 72 hours, so don't leave it until the airport.
3. Link a card. Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB, Discover and Diners Club are accepted, debit or credit. You'll set a six-digit payment password; remember it.
4. Make one small test payment as soon as you arrive, while there is help around.

To pay, either scan the shop's QR code and type the amount, or open your own payment code and let the cashier scan it. Alipay also opens DiDi for rides and holds metro QR codes for many cities, including Kunming.

WeChat Pay as a backup

WeChat Pay also takes foreign cards, with the same ¥200 fee threshold and 3% rate. It's a good second option, and many guesthouses and drivers prefer to message you on WeChat anyway.

Setting up WeChat from abroad can be harder than Alipay. A new account on a foreign number sometimes trips a security check that asks an existing WeChat user to scan a code for you. It doesn't always happen, and some accounts can verify by linking a foreign bank card instead. Try it a week or two before you fly.

Wallets from home

Some wallets from outside China, part of the Alipay+ network, can pay in mainland China without the Chinese app, at shops that show the Alipay+ sign. Thailand's TrueMoney and the Philippines' GCash work this way, and Malaysia's Touch 'n Go eWallet pays in ringgit. No Vietnamese e-wallet can pay this way in mainland China yet.

• Look for the Alipay+ sign at the counter. Not every shop has it, and metro gates and mini programs often don't take these wallets.
• Check in your wallet's app that China is switched on, and set up Alipay as well.

Cash and ATMs

• Shops must take cash. Under rules in force since 1 February 2026, businesses in China may not refuse renminbi cash, with exceptions such as self-service machines and online orders. Some small stalls may still lack change, so carry small notes.
• ATMs: Kunming airport has ATMs in the arrivals hall. Bank of China and ICBC machines generally accept Visa, Mastercard and UnionPay cards. Your home bank may charge its own fee.
• How much: a few hundred yuan covers the odd place where your app fails, plus small markets and rural buses.

Staying online

Google (including Maps and Gmail), WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube are blocked on Chinese networks. Which kind of data you use decides whether they work.

• Roaming from your home SIM routes data through your home network, so blocked apps usually keep working. It's the easiest option and often the most expensive; check your carrier's daily rate for China.
• A travel eSIM is usually cheaper. Most route data through Hong Kong or elsewhere, so blocked apps work, but not every plan does. Before you buy, check that the plan states it works with Google and WhatsApp in mainland China. Many are data-only, with no phone number.
• A Chinese tourist SIM gives you a local number and lots of data. You need to show your passport in person, at a China Mobile, China Unicom or China Telecom counter in the terminal at Kunming airport or a branch in town. The airport counters are usually staffed from 09:00 to 22:00; most of their self-service machines run around the clock. On a Chinese SIM, Google and WhatsApp don't work.

Whatever you choose, keep your home SIM active for text messages. Banks, Alipay and DiDi send login codes by SMS, and a data-only eSIM can't receive them.

Apps that work fine in China

• Maps: Apple Maps works well. Amap 高德地图, the local favorite, has an English interface.
• Trains: the 12306 app; see Kunming to Dali and Lijiang by train.
• Rides: DiDi, on its own or inside Alipay; see Kunming airport to the city.
• Translation: download Chinese for offline use in your translation app before you leave.

Before you fly

• Alipay installed, passport verified, card linked and payment password noted.
• WeChat set up as a backup, if you can.
• Roaming switched on or an eSIM installed, with the plan's China routing checked.
• Home SIM able to receive texts abroad.
• Your bank told about the trip, and a second card packed.
• A few hundred yuan in cash, or a plan to use the airport ATM.

Visas, trains and safety are on our practical page.

Sources

• Alipay and WeChat Pay: foreign-card fees and limits, the Kunming metro code, WeChat sign-up checks and Alipay+ wallets, checked with their official information on 24 October 2026; WeChat Pay notice on international card fees (Tenpay, 15 January 2026).
• People's Bank of China and two other regulators: rules on cash payments, in force from 1 February 2026 (Xinhua, 19 December 2025).
• Yunnan Airport Group: carrier counters at Kunming airport, checked on 24 October 2026. ATMs from a Kunming airport guide checked in March 2026.
• Alipay verification times and card brands from a 2026 guide for foreigners (January 2026); Touch 'n Go's own announcement.
• eSIM and tourist SIM prices from 2026 sellers' listings and a 2026 guide to SIM cards (June 2026).