China is the one destination where the phone in your pocket matters less than the accounts on it. Payments, metro gates, taxis, museum tickets and train seats all live inside a handful of apps — and almost every one wants to send you a verification code first. That is a ten-minute job on your sofa and a bad afternoon in arrivals.
The bit that catches people out
A travel eSIM is a data plan. It has no phone number and cannot receive SMS, so it will not carry the codes Alipay, WeChat or DiDi send during sign-up. That is not a flaw — it is what makes it instant to install, and why your VamosData eSIM has data live the moment you switch off flight mode.
The consequence is just an order of operations:
- Register the accounts at home, on your own number and your own Wi-Fi.
- Keep your normal SIM in the phone for SMS and bank codes, data off on that line.
- Let your VamosData eSIM carry the data once you land.
Why not sort it out on arrival? Because codes sent to foreign numbers are widely reported to arrive late or never on Chinese networks, Google Play is unreachable from a local connection, and an arrivals hall is a poor place to debug a sign-up.
The accounts to open, in priority order
| App | Do this at home | Why it has to be in advance |
|---|---|---|
| Alipay | Register, link a Visa or Mastercard, complete passport verification | The default way to pay, and the one that needs identity checks |
| Create the account, activate WeChat Pay with a foreign card | Some new accounts need an existing user to vouch for them by QR scan | |
| DiDi | Install, sign in, set the language to English | Registration needs an SMS code; the Alipay mini-programme is a good backup |
| Amap | Install, switch the interface to English, save your hotel | Navigation and transit you will want working from the airport exit |
| Trains | 12306's English app or site, or an international booking site | Passport verification can take a day or more to clear |
Alipay is the one to get right. Foreign visitors can register with an overseas number and bind an international card, and passport verification raises the limits. The limits were loosened in 2024 and adjusted since then, so treat any figure you read — including the roughly 3% service fee widely reported on payments above a couple of hundred yuan — as something to confirm in the app, not to plan around. Its real advantage is that it is more than a wallet: the mini-programmes inside it cover metro ride codes, taxis and much of the ticketing, sparing you several separate registrations.
WeChat is the second wallet, and the more awkward one to open from abroad. Its anti-fraud checks sometimes ask for a new account to be confirmed by an established user scanning a QR code — a problem that solves itself at home among friends and does not solve itself in a hotel lobby.
DiDi replaced Uber in mainland China in 2016. The standalone app offers an English interface for foreign numbers and cards, and the same service appears as a mini-programme inside Alipay; keep both available, because which one behaves better varies by account. Amap has had an English interface since January 2025 and now covers a long list of languages — switch the language before you travel, since some corners stay in Chinese.
Why the connection you arrive with decides how all this behaves
Mainland China filters internet traffic at the national level, and the filtering applies to local connections — local SIM cards, local broadband, public Wi-Fi. International roaming is a different path: your data is carried out through a gateway network outside the mainland and reaches the internet there, which is why a VamosData eSIM for China leaves your usual maps, mail and messaging behaving as they do at home. That is not a workaround; it is how roaming has always worked.
For the longer version: how to get internet on your phone in China, China's Great Firewall, explained and do you need a VPN in China?.
The honest limit: the moment you join hotel, café or airport Wi-Fi, you are on a local connection again, with local rules, whatever SIM is in the phone. If something has to load, do that part on your own data. And none of this is legal advice — if you are unsure what applies to you as a visitor, check an official source rather than a travel blog.
The week-before checklist
- Check your phone supports eSIM with the device checker — look carefully if the handset was bought in mainland China.
- Install your VamosData eSIM at home on good Wi-Fi, following the iOS or Android guide, and browse the China plans.
- Open Alipay, then WeChat, link a card to each, and finish passport verification where it is offered.
- Install DiDi and Amap, sign in, set both to English while troubleshooting is still easy.
- Download offline maps and an offline translation pack for your cities.
- Book trains early if your route depends on them, and check the exact station — large cities have several.
- Save the essentials offline: hotel address in Chinese characters, booking references, passport number.
One evening of admin, and arrival is unremarkable: flight mode off, data live, a ride booked from the kerb. All of it is much harder to arrange from inside the country than from your own living room — which is the whole argument for doing it now.