Your First Week in China: A Practical Checklist

Landing in China for the first time can feel overwhelming. This checklist walks you through the first seven days: setting up AliPay and WeChat Pay with a foreign card, picking the right International Data Roaming eSIM, buying a metro QR pass, and finding your way to the hotel without speaking Mandarin.

Start with payments. Almost everything runs on QR codes, and linking an international card takes about ten minutes. Next, confirm your connectivity so maps and translation apps keep working.

Finally, save your hotel address in Chinese characters. Taxi drivers will thank you.