Originally Posted by
jinglebear
Will be shortly traveling within China for three weeks. All this discussion about phone apps and what works/doesnt is making me grateful that I am part of an all-inclusive group tour and can off-load these responsibilites to the tour leader, as befits someone of my advanced age and declining mental faculties. But all the info you folks are providing is appreciated considering I was forced to obtain a 10-year multi-entry visa
Apologies for my non-informative post; awoke early and was feeling lonely.
Hey, no worries. I would imagine in your case the key things would be
1. Ensuring that you have suitable connectivity in China. If your phone is Android it will struggle to do even the most basic of things with no connection to Google services, and if you otherwise use Google or other Western social apps or Media outlets on any device they won't work. The best way to solve this is a roaming SIM card with a sensible cost bundle of data to use in China. See
SIM for Cell Phone in China
2. Even though your tour is all inclusive you might want to buy a few things for yourself. In which case having some cash (accepted in places where Western tourists tread) or setting up WeChat pay or AliPay. You can probably survive with cash as you're on a tour, but if you venture off into "real" China then the payment apps become pretty much a necessity.
Opinion: without Alipay and Wechat Pay, you are screwed in Shanghai
3. In case you have some downtime or you feel the need to venture out to self-explore sometime AMaps for navigation (or to just work out where you are, accurately, as western mapping is broken in China)
Google maps not workingfor public transit ? - urgent