I mentioned in another thread that planning 4 days in Beijing for a 1st time visitor has raised lots of questions.

I've read through the thread and pursued a couple of webpages. I think I understand that I can download Alipay or WeChat to my US phone prior to arriving in China, including account setup, linking a credit card, etc.

What I still am unclear is whether or not I need to purchase a SIM/eSIM upon arrival in order to have a Chinese # to use the apps in China. Apologies for a seemingly newbie question, but I'm stumped!

(I really don't want to pay AT&T to have my phone network connected for four days just because.)

TIA!