Originally Posted by gudugan

There's tons of different ones (e.g. ones that give you free data for specific apps like games and music). I didn't really want to bother and was just trying to get something cheap.
I have an iPhone X from this list: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202909. After iPhone X, Apple started making China-only iPhone models which I didn't want. Generally they have differences like two physical SIM slots but also FaceTime Audio is disabled. Since I know my phone is 100% supported, I don't have a problem.

I set this up in Chengdu which was probably a mistake. I likely won't come back here frequently. The 5G package is actually locked to Sichuan and can't be used outside it, hence why this is useless.

I really don't think it's possible to pay in most places in China with a credit card. I've tried and no one wants to deal with it.
The preferred method is: Alipay = WeChat Pay >> Cash with exact change > UnionPay local bank card (but why are you using this instead of AliPay/WeChat Pay?) >> credit card.
I plan to pay by using Alipay with a bank account. I assume you can also get your friend to pay for you.