When you come to China, you may get problems with using many popular international apps, because they’re blocked here. Is it comfortable? Of course, it is not, as it’s always difficult to find something new to use. But you can get a lot of popular Chinese apps which work not worse than any others. Stay positive and enjoy the new experience! Here are the best 19 apps which you will need and really like during your stay in China.
- WeChat. Here is the most popular Chinese social media app. It’s similar to Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter. You can add your friends to your contact list, chat and give them phone calls. Also you have your own page where you can make posts just like on Facebook. If you have a credit card in a Chinese bank, then you’ll also be able to pay for many services via WeChat which is very comfortable. Chinese people use this app all the time, so everyone will enjoy how well developed this app is.
- Didi. Here is the most popular app if you need to get a taxi in China. The rates for taxi are lower if you use this app instead of getting into a usual cab right on the street. The app is really similar to Uber. No need to pay more if you can pay less for the good quality. By the way, you can choose which car level do you prefer: taxi, premier or even luxe.
- Baidu Maps. When you need to know how to get to any place in China or just which metro station is located near you, then it’s the app you need. It works just like Google Maps. One more nice thing in this app is that some places are shown in a nice 3D landscape form. The only disadvantage is that it has only Chinese language, which can be difficult, but still it’s not a book, you can just copy and paste the necessary address.
- Taobao. This is a really «must have» if you love to order something online. The range of items and prices on this app is huge. You can buy anything here from book to camera. Delivery is really very fast, the prices are reasonable. Besides, you can see reviews and decide if you really want to buy an item. Also you can just send an image of something you need if you have no idea what’s the name of this thing, and this app will show it to you.
- Ofo. The whole world loves using bicycles now to travel through the city. As well as China. It’s a great way to travel without getting stuck on some traffic if you’re riding a car. Also it’s more ecological and you don’t need to pay for the gasoline. You can just download an app, find the nearest Ofo bicycle, take it and pay then. It’s really great when you need to get somewhere.
- Meituan. If you’re sitting at home and you really don’t want to go anywhere to eat, it’s the moment when you really need food delivery. This app is one of the best and cheapest in China. You order your favorite food from any restaurant and Meituan brings it to you.
- DianPing. If you have no idea where to go today for breakfast or dinner, this app is the best to show all reviews and ratings of all Chinese cafes and restaurants. You get the location, the reviews and the budget of every place. Some dining places even give people an opportunity to book a table right through the app.
- Metro China Subway. If you’re living in a city which has Metro, then you’ll know how easy it is sometimes to get lost there, because big cities have a lot of metro stations. But with this app you’ll never get lost, it always shows how to get to the place you need.
- Weibo. If you love Twitter, then you’ll need this app. Write what’s going on in your life, share the information and even promote your work. Also you can read what’s going on in other people’s lives. If you want to use an English version, then download another app, it looks the same but it’s called «Weibo International».
- Alipay. Sometimes paying by cash can be really uncomfortable and not fast enough, but what if you have an app which allows you to pay really fast for almost any service in China? Here is the app which can do it. You just need to connect your credit card with your account on Alipay. It’s never been that easy to pay.
- Youku. The best app for those who love Asian movies and TV shows. You can download Youku and enjoy a lot of films and shows. It’s really similar to Netflix and Youtube and it’ll show you the interesting world of Asian films.
- QQ Music. Do you want to listen to music without any restrictions? This app can help. You can not only listen to music here, but also you can download it. Besides, you can watch some official music videos here of famous singers and read different articles and interviews.
- Ctrip. If you’re located in any Chinese city and you want to travel, you don’t need any travel agency to help you. You can use Ctrip. You just write the destination and the app will show you the best prices for a flight and all the hotel recommendations. Plan everything, book it and have it right in one app.
- Momo. The most popular dating app in China. So if you want to find someone for a relationship, then it’s your app. You can set any filters (age, sex) and find your date. It works like Tinder.
- Jinri Toutiao. It is the best app where you can read any news. Just download it and scroll the feed. You can set the preferences here, so that app will show you news from those categories which are the most interesting for you.
- If you want to find something on the internet, then you’ll need this app. It works just like Google or Yahoo. You should write what you need and it’ll show you many links. Bing is popular not only in China, many people in Europe and America also love it.
- TikTok. Here is one the most popular apps in the whole world, but as it’s Chinese, it works very well in China. You can create any videos here, participate in video challenges, practice your artistic skills and laugh at other videos. Download it and become popular.
- Aliexpress. This Chinese app is popular all over the globe. But as it’s based in China, the delivery of your items will be much faster. So on this app you can find anything you want to buy from outfit to mobile phones. It’s not that popular for devices as Taobao, but it’s great if you want to buy an outfit.
- Express VPN. And of course, here is one of the most necessary apps which can help you to use all international apps like Instagram, Facebook and others in China. This app is just the most popular one, but you can download any VPN app. You need to install it, turn it on and then you can use any foreign app. Free VPN apps can work with some problems, but those VPN apps which have a special price work much better. So if you want to stay in touch with your friends on Instagram, you can do this.
Author: Enjoy Shanghai
Enjoy Shanghai is one of the best and largest news portals in China and has been proving with meaningful and helpful news for over a decade. We are delicate to share the useful information for you about everything in shanghai.
