Also, I will experiment with friends messaging me and see if I can stumble on something that works. Thanks for all of your help.

Just add moondogsh as a contact. After we are connected, I will add you to the group

They say....'if you know the answer, it's simple'!!

So, if anyone can help me who is more tech savvy than myself, which I guess is most people, I would be grateful as I have looked everywhere through my iPhone (11) and cannot find an answer!

Is it possible to change the 'alert' notification sound for incoming WeChat messages?

Help!
 

Once again my wife's Wechat account seems to have blown up. Last time we gave up and simply made a new one.

The password I have written down doesn't seem to work. The mobile number showing on the account I do not recognize--I think maybe it's an old number that has since been changed and I'm sure I updated it on Wechat. Her iPad is logged in but effectively unusable--if her sister calls it will ring but she can't answer, everything else just shows a network error. There's no problem with YouTube on it, though--the network is most certainly working.

It is not anything in the network path, either--as I write this she's using my account off my PC to talk to her sister, no problems.

Any ideas?

Can you scan QR codes with your wife's iPad WeChat? If you can you may be able to log onto another device that way.

If not then have you attempted the account recovery process? If you have previously designated at least three other WeChat accounts as your emergency contacts that makes the recovery process much easier.

All accounts have one contact called "WeChat Team" or the equivalent Chinese name if you are using a Chinese version. If you are able to send messages to that contact, explain your situation and they will presumably set you straight. I've created new accounts (using different phone numbers) in the past when I've had urgent needs, and this always works, but I always want to keep my main account active because it has lots of contacts, and is connected to my bank/passport/WP/RP/health code/loyalty programs...pretty much everything I need to function in this country. Apart from situations when my main account is giving me headaches, I value my secondary accounts because I can send them photos or drafts of documents I'm working on and later grab them from any device.

You probably know, but that's what the "file transfer" contact is for. It's to send stuff to yourself.

I don't know:D, but USA Eric, Eric USA, and America Eric are all pretty easy.

I was out all day, when I got home last night I decided to see if anything along those lines was possible--and it's working fine! Absolutely no changes on our end, their system must have had some sort of hiccup. I am going to look into the account recovery stuff for future reference, I didn't know it existed.

And on my PC I'm not finding any "emergency contact" setting. Phone only, perhaps?

A lot of functions are either phone only, or much more intuitive on the phone versions. I think emergency contacts is phone only, but I can't state this with 100% confidence because it's possible that it's buried somewhere on the PC/Mac versions.

The "WeChat Team" contact is available on PC/Mac, and I've had good results fixing problems...apart from not being able to connect my BOC account (they want me to go into a BOC branch and ask them to swap my first and last names; that's not going to happen; thankfully Alipay isn't anal about this).

Following is a checklist of items if you want your WeChat account to be fully functional during your China trips:
-use a Chinese phone number that fulfills the real name registration requirement
-connect your WeChat account to one bank account; it doesn't matter if you actually use this bank account; you simply need it for WeChat pay to work at all
-get the health code miniprogram
-set 3 emergency contacts, and also use an easy (for you) password

More poking around and I've learned a bit:

I can't find emergency contacts on the PC, but I did find them on her iPad and it let me set them. I can't set anything else in there from the iPad, though--everything else says to do it from the phone. And I still haven't gotten into the phone. There's also a link with Facebook option, likewise only settable on the phone.

We are US-based, we don't have Chinese phone numbers at all and there's no way we are going to be going over there until the quarantine requirement is dropped--that's probably going to be a while. For her WeChat is about talking with people in China, mostly her sisters.

My one prior attempt with the WeChat team produced no response at all. Do they not speak English? (She's not at all technical, this sort of thing is always my job.)

I don't know. I would assume they use their own "translate" function because it works well, but I've always messaged them using Chinese because my questions aren't challenging and I wanted to completely eliminate the language variable.

Chinese phone numbers won't really help you until you make your next trip, but WeChat Pay is kind of useful.

What is the state of US credit card integration with WeChat Pay at the moment? I think this would be the only reason for me to consider signing up for WeChat. I still don't have it and I need a compelling reason to do so.

Non-Chinese cards work for an extremely small subset of merchants (e.g. cell phones, airlines, ctrip).

With respect to the "compelling reason", WeChat/Alipay spare you the need to carry any cash at all (or even your wallet).

And the discounts :D

Many tourist spots have gone contactless because of Covid. So if you don't have WeChat Pay then you won't even be able to buy a ticket.

Again, how will international tourists get around it if one needs a Chinese phone number and bank account?

They'd prefer tourists to stick with tour groups for easier supervision...

Getting a SIM doesn't require more than 30 minutes.

Verified SIM?

Even if international tourist can get that, bank account will be challenge.

AliPay has tourist pass which you can use a foreign credit card. I use my chase sapphire reserve.

Many merchants can directly charge your credit card through the tourist pass QR code of your credit card. In the unusual instances where it rejects the foreign CC, you can load money onto your tour pass “debit card” QR code for a 5% transaction fee. Even merchants that definitely cannot swipe any foreign CC in the literal sense can still usually charge your foreign CC through tourist pass. I use it at convenience stores, small localish restaurants, even in tier 2 or 3 cities. I check my chass statements and there’s no fee or markup when they directly charge your tourist pass CC

I use aliPay far more often than WeChat pay.

If you’re not living here full time then just use aliPay and cash. If you’re living here full time then get a bank account at a local bank. China merchant bank took about 1 hour to open me an account with passport, employment contract, phone number with name verification.

HSBC was surprisingly awful to try to work with.

Smaller banks (e.g Huaxia) tend to entail less bureaucracy than big banks (e.g. BOC), BUT some of them don't work with WeChat/Alipay unless you have a PRC ID.

Before applying for any bank account (big or small bank), be sure come prepared with:
-passport
-visa/RP/WP
-phone number
-temporary residence permit (if you're staying at a hotel, they can print this out; otherwise, the local police station can if you show them a rental agreement)
-cash for initial deposit (Y1000 is probably enough unless you are aiming for a fancy account)
-ask the bank people to help you set up WeChat Pay and Alipay before you leave (make sure you're already registered to speed up the process)

Am I missing anything?

[QUOTE=GloballyServiced;33287711]AliPay has tourist pass which you can use a foreign credit card.QUOTE]

That's still available? OK tourists better get that then.

Why not get full fledged accounts instead? The cell phone and bank account drills are only a minor PITA if you have your ducks in order, and foreign cards are easy to add; you just can't use them at Lawson's. I would not pay a 5% transaction fee (did I get that right?) to be able to use foreign cards with a tourist pass.

Your post just made me a very happy guy! How do I get an Alipay tourist pass? What are the limitations? Where can I read up more on it? Does dining code as restaurant purchases on your Chase card?

May be worth it in some instances. You have no idea how much coins I have accrued over the years.

As the contactless ticketing is mostly a Covid policy, I would presume things would change if the borders were to open. For the time being a foreign tourist can't even get into the country, let alone buy a ticket.

1. I used to disdain coins, but they are irrelevant after you stop carrying ANY cash (let's save trees)
2. The new smaller Y1 coins don't work in many vending machines, so if you do use cash at convenience stores, ask for the old ones

I've been going to China since 2007. I can only use credit cards where they're accepted. Other than that, it's been cash. Next time I go back, I gotta find a way to at least turn the coins to paper currency. You got any idea? I got an entire jug full of PRC coins!

No that’s not correct I’ll try to be more clear this time. On AliPay tourist pass function, you get two QR codes that merchants can scan:

1. direct charge to your foreign card. For me this is my chase sapphire reserve. The payment amount is directly charged to your credit card through aliPay at today’s exchange rate with no fees or markup. Even merchants that cannot swipe foreign CC can do this. I have never had this fail once in Shanghai for any merchant that can scan aliPay QR codes.I used this at Lawsons in Jing An just yesterday to buy 2 ice cream cones.

2. a makeshift aliPay debit card. You can load RMB onto this from your foreign credit card for a 5% fee. I only use this about once every 2-3 weeks when option 1 fails. It is generally in a smaller city in a small cheap merchant where I’m not worried about spending a few RMB in markup fee.


For option 2 above I could also use WeChat pay to save the fee. But for me I’m paid in USD to my American accounts so the only way I get money into my WeChat account is doing a stupid cash + deposit thing since I’d prefer not linking up with my Chinese bank. I’m perfectly fine to eat a few bucks per month on aliPay fees to be able to manage everything through chase. And if someone is actually a tourist or even short term resident this seems far easier than dealing with a China sim, a second phone, and a bank account where you’re going to have minimal fun setting those up if you can’t speak Chinese.

I'm assuming option 1 works with any credit card including Citi?

I'm wondering why in certain cases option 1 doesn't work and have to resort to option 2?

Yeah I was mystified when I first realized you could directly charge CC. Never thought that would be possible.

Tourist Pass is just one of the features on the standard aliPay app. It’s in the top left portion of the app when you open it. Unfortunately all of the charges code as “shopping”

There’s probably not a ton of info available online but setup was very straightforward.

GloballyServiced?

I do not know the answer to those, but I assume it’s some way that the merchant is setup. I’m happy with my success ratio though.

Alipay is a separate app and available on iOS and Android? Again, I have no experience with this and just missed your response. Will AMEX work? I rather use a different card than CSR if everything codes as "shopping". I'm assuming the charges are in CNY/RMB and then Chase converts it to USD?

I am a guy who did Valuemags (back in the day), and bought a van (paid off within a week) solely to do dollar coins.

With the 5% bar, someone would need to do something extremely stupid in order to create a useful opportunity.

Yea it’s just an iOS app. I would not count on Amex working.



By the time China opens up to tourism or even business travel, this will likely all be different though. Not to be a Debbie downer but it’s going to be a long time.

I get it, but I don't think it hurt to ask right now.

Are you in China at the moment? You got an AMEX? Maybe you can test it since you are earning 1 UR per USD. I'm assuming the charges are in CNY/RMB and then Chase converts it to USD?

I am indeed here but I don’t have an Amex personally. I believe you could try to set it up from abroad and load 100RMB if you’re super eager to test it ahead of time. But like I said I rarely use the pre-loaded top up method because it’s not usually needed and you lose 5%.

That's option 2. I meant with option 1 and then buy something from say Family Mart. Would love to know if it it'll work with AMEX and avoid the 5% fee.

I'm assuming the charges are in CNY/RMB and then Chase converts it to USD?