XiaoZhou Posted March 13, 2017 at 09:41 AM Report Share Posted March 13, 2017 at 09:41 AM (edited) I'm trying to put together a guide of useful tools, websites, apps, and services for people who come to China. Think of it like a digital "onboarding" or "orientation" to China. This is what I've got so far, but I want to add a lot more useful info to it. I plan to add a sentence or two of description to each item, and I want to add many more items as well. Any suggestions? Communication How to use WeChat Payments 支付宝 淘宝 WeChat Wallet (how to set up) How to Reset your WeChat Wallet 京东 Food Ordering 百度外卖 (Baidu Waimai) 饿了么 (Ele me) 美团外卖 (锦食送) Jin shi song Chinese Language Learning Anki Pleco Transportation Bike Sharing Mobike: 摩拜博客 Ofo Car Sharing/Taxi Hailing 滴滴出行 Finding Restaurants 大众点评 Travel 携程旅行网 (Ctrip) How to purchase plane/bus/train tickets through WeChat How to retrieve train tickets at train stations Delivery 送闪 - An on-demand delivery service for within the same city. Expect to pay about 20-40 RMB to have an objet less than five kilograms delivered across Beijing. Miscellaneous WeSecretary - An English-language concierge service that uses WeChat 赶集网 - Adds and classifieds for housing, jobs, second hand items, cars, and so much more. Edited March 13, 2017 at 02:32 PM by XiaoZhou I had accidently pasted "送闪" into the middle of a sentence about WeSecretary. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GotJack Posted March 13, 2017 at 12:43 PM Report Share Posted March 13, 2017 at 12:43 PM The wechat secretary is the same photo that popupchinese uses... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted March 13, 2017 at 01:18 PM Report Share Posted March 13, 2017 at 01:18 PM Hardly surprising, the two services were started by the same folk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GotJack Posted March 13, 2017 at 01:19 PM Report Share Posted March 13, 2017 at 01:19 PM Mystery solved! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlescano Posted March 13, 2017 at 06:44 PM Report Share Posted March 13, 2017 at 06:44 PM 百度地图 and 高德地图 are a must. Have them installed beforehand. In Beijing Baidu maps is better, but in Tianjin Gaode Ditu is better. I feel navigating Beijing with Baidu Maps is easier than exploring NYC with Google Maps. Also, bring Maps.Me for offline map use and saving locations. Just be aware that due to China's curious GIS data set, sometimes Maps.Me missed the mark by many meters. Bring an unlocked iPhone (4s or newer) and get one of those China Unicom SIM cards they sell on Amazon. I would have been literally lost without it. If you're going to be enrolled in a school, they'll offer you a better phone plan for local use, but once you step outside your province you're going to use it up pretty quickly. The ones they sell on Amazon are equally good from Beijing to Haikou (tested), so it's ideal for travelers. If in Beijing, get the metro card. 迪卡侬 (Decathlon) has big-sized shoes (up to 45/11.5) and sports/camping gear/clothes/backpacks, etc, so no need to bring a lot (if any). I made the mistake of bringing Chuck Taylor All-Stars and ended up with blisters after a trip to the Great Wall. 名创优品 (Miniso) has other things you'll need: Reusable water bottles, umbrellas, dry fruits, snacks, soap, alcohol gel, tissues, power banks, Hello Kitty, etc., so, again, don't bring a lot. Create a Hotmail or Outlook email account beforehand, because Gmail does not work in China. Link all accounts you'll need in China (Hotel booking accounts, Airline, travel agency, etc) to your Hotmail/Outlook email. Express VPN works well most of the time, so you can have your dose of YouTube and Google. Buy a subscription beforehand and have it already installed in the devices you'll use. I endorse the Ctrip recommendation, but my cousins get their tickets cheaper buying directly from the rail company. Qunar can also be cheaper than Ctrip. If hungry and don't know where to eat, search for the nearest 永和大王. Also, University cafeterias have cheap food (not sure if they'll take cash, however). There's no shame is resorting to 麦当劳 or 肯德基... They're Chinese-flavored, anyway. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 14, 2017 at 12:25 AM Report Share Posted March 14, 2017 at 12:25 AM [Deleted]. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XiaoZhou Posted March 14, 2017 at 03:15 AM Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2017 at 03:15 AM Quote those China Unicom SIM cards they sell on Amazon Could you provide a link or the specific name of this product? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlescano Posted March 14, 2017 at 03:22 AM Report Share Posted March 14, 2017 at 03:22 AM Sure. The link is: http://a.co/i1rGENv and the name is: China SIM Card 1GB 4G LTE data + 50 mins local calls or 100 texts,! Free Incoming Calls and Texts There's also a 2GB version, but 1GB was enough for me for one month, since most hotels and other places had Wifi. The seller is LvyCom. I activated it in NYC before going to China. When I traveled with my friends through China, one of my friends (using a college provided plan from Beijing) was left without data, but I still had data. Of course you can get much better plans in China, but for a traveler this one was perfect. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iekkim Posted March 14, 2017 at 06:22 AM Report Share Posted March 14, 2017 at 06:22 AM I would love to follow this thread. I've just installed Anki and WeChat Wallet (hopefully I don't need it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
889 Posted March 14, 2017 at 10:53 AM Report Share Posted March 14, 2017 at 10:53 AM Surprisingly, Google Earth -- the Android app, at least -- seems to work again in China. It's great for locating the interesting bits in a city, the remaining hutong districts in Beijing, for example. But unless you've got a working VPN you'll need to install it from Playstore before you reach Mainland China. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realmayo Posted March 14, 2017 at 04:42 PM Report Share Posted March 14, 2017 at 04:42 PM 13 hours ago, mlescano said: Of course you can get much better plans in China, but for a traveler this one was perfect This looks really interesting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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