How to Use Alipay as a Foreigner: A Complete Setup Guide

You may have heard this before, but your credit card won’t go far in China. I’ve seen that firsthand during my week in Beijing. Of course, malls and upscale restaurants take them. Outside of those, not so much.

But oh no, cash is not king there either… QR code payment is, and there are two apps that run the field, Alipay and WeChat Pay. Both apps work perfectly fine with foreign phone numbers and credit cards so we foreigners are good to use them.

You can also use Alipay to pay for public transportation without ever buying a ticket, too! I especially love how convenient that is for getting around.

So without further ado, I’ll walk you through how to use Alipay and WeChat Pay, from setting up to making sure it works well before you land in China!

“Do I Need Both Alipay and WeChat?”

From my experience, I’d say yes, you need both at some point. While I paid for 99% of my expenses with Alipay when I was in Beijing, I very occasionally needed to scan and pay with WeChat.

But when it comes to transportation services, Alipay is much more foreigner-friendly. The app is automatically in English if you’ve downloaded it from outside of China, and there’s an in-app translator available.

Setting Up and Using Alipay

As long as you’re in China, Alipay is king and I will die on this hill. Over 80 million merchants across China accept Alipay. At restaurants, you can scan to look at the menu, order food, and pay all in one place.

Your ride-hailing app, metro card, and bus card all live inside Alipay as well.

How to Register for Alipay

First, download the app from your app store. If you’re on Android, then use this link instead.

When you first open the app, it’ll ask you to agree with its privacy protection policy and service agreement, in two separate pop-ups. Click agree to both.

You’ll then have to register with your phone number.

Click the country code to pull up the list of countries. Find yours, then put in your phone number, and click next. It’ll text you a one-time verification code to put in. Then it should take you to the homepage.

Next, you’ll have to verify your identity, which you don’t have to do, but you’ll very likely run into payment issues without it. My account suddenly got suspended even before I started using mine, and I had to verify and fix that.

To verify your identity, find the account tab at the bottom right of your homepage, then click at the profile tab at the top. You’ll see a prompt asking you to verify your identity information.

Choose to verify with a passport, then input your passport information. You’ll have to upload a photo of your biometrics page after this as well.

After you’re done, come back to the account page and select “Bank Cards.” Then add your preferred credit card. As long as yours is listed on the accepted credit card type, then you should be good.

It’ll also ask you to set a payment password, which is essentially a PIN. You’ll have to type in this PIN every time you make a payment later, so make it something you can remember.

That is all you need to do to set it up! Now let’s get to using it.

How to Use Alipay for Payment

There are two main ways Alipay is used for payment. You either scan the merchant’s QR code to pay, or they scan your payment code to charge for the payment. Both options are at the top section of the homepage.

Which way you use is fully up to the merchant. But the payment code page looks like this. There’s a barcode at the top and a QR code below. I have to cover mine, sorry.

It becomes pretty clear after the first couple of buys which function you’ll have to use at each store. You either see a QR code at the cashier (which means you have to scan them) or a scanning device (which means you show them your code).

NOTE: If you’re using VPN, make sure to turn it off before paying or the payment will fail.

How to Use Alipay for Transportation

While there are ways to use public transportation without Alipay, I promise you it is better with.

Passes and payment for all public transportation systems in China live inside Alipay. Didi, the Chinese ride-hailing app, is also available as a mini version of itself inside Alipay.

You can access both the public transportation and Didi on the homepage. Let’s talk buses and metro first.

After clicking on the transport button on the top menu, you’ll land on a page with bus/metro, taxi, and flights. There’s almost no need to leave the bus/metro tab. Just make sure you select the correct city at the top.

Select either bus or metro, depending on which one you’re using, and click “Go to claim.” This will sometimes be worded as “Activate your card” for some cities.

After activating your metro card, it’ll turn into a QR code. Scan it at the turnstile at every station, and the code will automatically charge the correct amount to your credit card for each trip. Bus works the same way.

As for Didi, it works pretty much the same way as Uber, Lyft, or Grab, which I’m sure you’ve used before.

Once you put in your pick-up point and destination, you can then choose which kind(s) of ride you’re looking for, then click confirm.

Setting Up and Using WeChat Pay

I only had to use WeChat twice for payment, once to buy a ticket for the Bell Tower, and another to buy my bus ticket to the Great Wall.

I personally think it’s not as user-friendly as Alipay. It’s also got its own transportation services, but everything is in Chinese with no built-in translation. Maybe I’ll like it more if I become an advanced speaker one day…

The setup for WeChat is pretty straightforward. I had it installed ages ago to talk to my friends so I don’t have any screenshots, but it was almost exactly like signing up for WhatsApp for something similar.

Adding a Bank Card to WeChat Pay

To access the payment features on WeChat, navigate to the “Me” tab at the bottom right of the app. Then to “Pay and Services” on that tab.

On the Pay and Services page, you’ll see “Money” and “Wallet” at the top. Select money. Ignore the wallet tab. That’s for adding balance to the app, which requires a Chinese bank account.

A payment code screen similar to Alipay will show up, but it’s not there yet. We have to activate it!

Click “Agree and Enable.” Two payment options will pop up for you to add, either a credit card or apple pay. I prefer using my credit card.

Once you’ve added a payment method, then a barcode and a QR code should show, and you’re good to go! Now every time you need to show your payment code, just find your way back to the money tab.

How to Open the WeChat Scanner

The scanning feature doesn’t live on the Pay and Services page, which confused me for a few weeks until I finally figured it out.

To access the scanner, navigate back to the “Chats” tab at the bottom of the app. Click the plus sign at the top right corner, then you’ll see the option to “Scan.”

Testing If Your Payment App Actually Works

So now that you have both apps set up, how do you know if it will work when you land in China?

There is a place you can test them! Go ahead and follow this link to Trip.com. Pick an experience or ticket to purchase and get through to the payment step. I recommend choosing something you’ll actually need on your trip. I bought the Great Wall ticket to test mine.

As shown in this photo above, you’re going to choose Alipay or WeChat Pay as your payment method. I recommend Alipay, since you’ll be using it more.

Once the payment QR code pops up, open the scanner on your payment app and pay for the ticket with your phone. If the payment goes through, then you’re all set with payments!

Get Ready For Your Visit

Now that you’re done with another aspect of preparing your trip, don’t forget to be mentally ready for the cultural differences too. As long as you set the right expectations, you’ll have a great time.

Check out my top travel tips for China and minimize the surprises you might run into. It also doesn’t hurt to memorize some of these basic Chinese phrases as well. They might come in handy!

I’m still working on more guides for Beijing. So bookmark my China Immersive Travel page for later!

More Helpful Travel Tips for China

Check here to see if you need a visa for China, and allow yourself enough time to get one. Don’t forget to fill out the arrival card online before you board the plane so immigration goes extra smoothly!

• Make sure you protect your trip with a travel insurance.
• Get this eSIM to bypass the great firewall.
• Must-have Apps: Alipay, WeChat, Metro Man, Amap, Microsoft Translator

Grab My China E-Checklist

China was one of the hardest countries I had to prepare for, but after having done all the prep, it became the most convenient trip I ever took. So I made the checklist I wish I had to help you do everything right!

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