My Experience PAYING IN CHINA With TIPS

If you are scratching your head over settling your payments in China, don’t worry! I got your back 😘

Honestly when I was planning for China, this was my biggest worry because everyone was telling me how cash is not accepted everywhere (Lemme debunk this myth in a bit!)

In total, I tried 5 different payment methods, the details in the process and cons are in the picture so i’ll just rate my experience below!

1️⃣ Alipay Tour Card: 1/5

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2️⃣ Alipay With International Credit Card: 2/5

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3️⃣ WeChat With International Credit Card: 2/5

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4️⃣ Alipay Wallet Through RMB Transfer From Friend: 5/5

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5️⃣ Cash: 4/5

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The BIGGEST roadblock in payment is how so many small shops don’t have the contactless payment machine to scan the payment QR code when using your Alipay/WeChat with international credit card. This really affected my payment experience negatively for options 1️⃣ - 3️⃣. Essentially, you won’t be able to pay at all if they don’t have that machine.

However, my dearest friend really saved me as she has a China bank account linked to her Alipay and kindly transferred RMB into my Alipay wallet and I transferred her back SGD. I mainly used method 4️⃣ for my payment in China and it worked 100% of the time. The only con is needing to trouble my friend to transfer me money when I’m running out 🥲

Lastly, CASH IS STILL ACCEPTED but because everyone is so used to digital payments, sometimes they don’t have loose change, but the times I paid with cash, the shop owners would find their neighbours to get loose change so no issues on that! I’d highly advise to change more cash as a back up.

If there are any better methods that you’ve used successfully, I’d love to know! Drop me a comment below ☺️

#reglhychinatravels #MyLemon8Diary #china #chinapayment #travel #TravelGuide #traveltips #lemon8travel #traveltips