China has become a cashless society. Before visiting, overseas travelers prepare for how they will pay during their trip. American travelers still bring their credit cards and US dollars, but they are also increasingly downloading Chinese mobile payment apps.

They usually pay for hotels and flights with their credit cards before departure. Once they arrive, their Chinese mobile payment apps, such as WeChat Pay or Alipay, start working. Let’s meet three independent American travelers to see how they paid for things in China.

One traveler went to Chengdu, Xi’an, and Beijing with a group of four. Another traveler took a road trip from Chengdu to Ganzi, Xinduqiao, and Dege in Tibet. The last traveler took a one-day road trip to the Mutianyu Great Wall in Beijing. Each found a different way to pay in China, and each stumbled into a different adventure along the way.

First up: Jennifer.

Jennifer speaks fluent Chinese and is a professor at an American university. Before the pandemic, she took her students to a Chinese university every year for an exchange program.

This is her first after-pandemic trip to China. Jennifer is the team leader on their Chengdu–Xi’an–Beijing trip.

She had used WeChat Pay before and had a Chinese bank card. To avoid possible verification issues with her Chinese bank card, Jennifer bought a new Chinese SIM card upon arrival at Chengdu TFU airport.

Then Jennifer wanted to test her WeChat Pay. At Luckin Coffee, she scanned a QR code and successfully bought her first cup of coffee.

Everything went as planned.

But after traveling from Chengdu to Xi’an and then to Beijing, a problem arose. Jennifer’s WeChat Pay account was suspended.

Her WeChat Pay account had been inactive for many years. Then, all of a sudden, within four days and in different cities, many payments were made. This triggered WeChat’s payment security system, and Jennifer could receive money but could not spend money.

International payments(cross-border payments) have always been a challenge.

What is the solution for overseas travelers staying only a short time?

Alipay International is one option. Overseas travelers can link their credit cards and pay with a service fee of 3%.  However, there are many complaints in the Apple App Store reviews.

 Let’s make a comparison between Alipay and PayPal.

PayPal has both domestic and international versions. American and Canadian users can transfer USD from their PayPal balances to family members and friends without a transaction fee. So far, both Alipay and PayPal have the same policy. For International payments(cross-border), PayPal international users must pay a transaction fee of $4.99 for each transfer if they pay from their PayPal balance. Alipay charges 3% for the linked credit card.

Then, Alipay is a reasonable option.

WeChat Pay is another payment option. WeChat, as a social media platform, was not designed to work as a payment tool, so it’s not surprising that WeChat Pay rarely works well for international travelers with their overseas credit cards.

    For short-term visitors who do not want to have a local bank card, they can turn to a WeChat Pay alternative. WeChat Pay has a great feature called “relative cards,” which allows you to receive an allowance or pocket money directly from your Chinese friend’s WeChat Pay account.

This feature worked fairly well for short-term visitors.

Then there’s Michael.

Unlike Jennifer, he did not visit big cities such as Chengdu, Xi’an, or Beijing. Instead, he took a road trip from Chengdu to Ganzi, Xinduqiao, and Dege, towns in Tibet, as an independent overseas traveler. He brought his daughter with him because he wanted her to experience what he had experienced when he was young.

Michael’s travel plan was different from Jennifer’s, and so was his mobile payment plan.

Before leaving his home country, Michael used Wise.com to exchange US dollars into RMB online and sent his car service payment to his local car service provider, Robert. This payment was done in a second and reached Robert instantly.

So, Michael could settle the largest part of the bill with Wise.com in advance.

In city trips, people use WeChat Pay everywhere and all the time. That is the case for Jennifer.

On the roads from Chengdu to Tibet, when the mobile signal is not good, cash is even a better option. Michael chose to pay with cash.

Did Michael bring a lot of cash with him?

NO

Then how did Michael get cash on his Tibet road trip?

Let us see how Michael solved this problem.

Michael did bring some cash when he left Chengdu.

When he ran out of cash on his Tibet road, he used Wise.com to transfer RMB to Robert. Then Robert transferred that Michael’s money through WeChat Pay to his driver, Mr. LIU. Then Mr. LIU handed the cash to Michael.  

Mr.LIU used to live and work in this area, so he could get Chinese Yuan cash. Mr. LIU is far more than a driver. He acted as a bridge between the Tibetan locals and Michael. Without Mr. LIU, it would have been impossible for foreign faces to be invited to join a local Tibetan marriage ceremony. Michael is kind and generous to offer a free ride to a Tibetan monk on the road after he saw Mr. LIU’s capability and connection.

At the same time, it is a good occasion for both Robert and Mr. LIU to observe and learn from Michael. Michael is always kind, generous, and willing to help.  

And then there’s Daniela.

Unlike Jennifer, who visited several cities, and Michael, who made a Tibet road trip, Daniela’s first trip to China is a business trip, and she has one day free to visit the Great Wall and the Forbidden City.  

She planned to pay everything with cash, which is still legally accepted everywhere.

No apps. No scanning. Just Chinese Yuan cash.

On her early morning Great Wall trip day, she exchanged money at her hotel’s currency exchange machine.

Before she stepped into the car arranged by Robert, she found a problem.

Though the exchange service fee is only half of the service fee at the airport, the exchange rate was lower than the listed exchange rate. Daniela was unhappy about this and felt fooled.

What should Daniela do? After talking to the hotel concierge, who contacted the currency exchange machine company, Daniela learned that she needs to go to the Capital Airport to return Chinese cash and get back her US dollars.

Then Daniela talked to Robert for help.

Robert made things happen. The currency exchange machine company agreed to come to the hotel to do the refund.  

It is a bit complicated and confusing for an overseas traveler.

But with Robert’s help, she got her money back.