The procedures keep changing so who knows how in practice you get unlocked. I was locked out of Weixin once and they wanted a couple of friends to verify me. I did that then they added more requirements, like the friends had to be "nearby" and have been on Weixin for a least six months or something.

The message was: Don't get locked out.

Yes. The "two friends" thing happens fairly often. While all of us have at least two friends, whenever the request comes through when they are asleep, things are not good.

What triggers it? What is this "two friends" thing?

I certainly don't know what's in Weixin's black box. But presumably something you've done -- maybe install Weixin on a new phone -- raises a security flag.

But honestly, we can only guess. Just recall all the floundering about we've done in these threads for years trying to figure out Weixin and Alipay procedures.

Basically, it's a security validation procedure, often it will trigger when you log into WeChat from a new device in a new IP. It requires 2 of your friend who has got a "secured" status to send you PM a 6-digit number code AFAIK. Not a big deal if you got 300+ friends, but it's hard when you only have small amount of contacts.

This time, I was in Changsha and Nanning for a week total. Overall it was mostly fine without WeChat, but there were a couple of nuggets that might be worth sharing so that fellow non-WeChat users are aware.

A street vendor in Changsha wanted to charge me more for using cash, and then ultimately kiboshed my efforts. But that was the sole example of about 15 different street food purchases during the week. There were a couple of places that didn't have one mao, but whatever.

However, the metro systems are still stupid. A ticket is only valid within a certain number of hours on the date of purchase, so there's no planning in advance for when the hellish rush hour bell tolls. Every now and then, there would be a ticket machine that would only accept QR payment, but eventually it all worked out. (On some machines, you have to tap on the "cash/现金" button first, how inefficient).

Anyway, the VPNs were all struggling, but trip.com saved the day many a time. Changsha is neat if you're into chilies upon chilies, and Nanning is going through its annual durian craze.

duplicate

I haven't been to Changsha in a while, but Nanning happens often. Why would you go to either place without WX, AP, and V?

I don't need them, so why take them?

Sure, there was the occasional vending machine, or fridge (in the case of Nanning airport domestic baggage claim) that only accepted mobile pay, but convenience stores were convenient enough.

Perhaps the biggest hurdle is popular tourist attractions, as getting tickets for somewhere like Wulingyuan or Huangshan might be much more of a pain if one only has cash. With WeChat, this stuff can often be arranged in advance.

Personally, this having to rely on one's mobile phone for everything is making the country less and less appealing to visit.

Anyway, the post was more for anyone planning to travel to China, and didn't know what to expect without mobile pay (the VPN wasn't a huge issue, as international phone data can work).

While I get the fact that you don't like the current norms, this thread demonstrates that they exist. Sure you can be stubborn, but you will be inconvenienced.

It's doubltful... I am not talking about following a pictorial view of a map to turn left or right. I am talking about routing options, traffic consideration, price and transfer in/out of station and so on. You may think you have found your way but you surely miss all the nuances of their suggestions. Both AMAP and Baidu Map display information differently than Google Map, in terms of how it overlay other data and the amount of data. The embedding of ad data is not trivial to call out in all cases. There are 1st party and and 3rd party ads... Asking a simple public transit direction from point A to point B gets you half dozen options, including option to mix in car services. The devil is in all the details and I am certain people that don't speak Chinese will miss nearly all of them.

A lot of issues:
1) You will then mess up Google Search functions on your Gmail.
2) Gmail and Hotmail use vastly different filing system and they are not compatible with each other. Tagging versus folders are very different. This is coming from people that designed these systems.
3) Of course this requires you to remember to forward your Gmail before you leave and then disable it when you return. If you are a frequent traveler in/out of China, or China is just a stop in your travel, this creates more things to remember or that could go wrong.
4) If/when Gmail misjudge some email as spam, then you won't get the forward. This is especially true and problematic with 2FA security emails.

Latest update (6/2023) on WeChat's Weixin Pay and AliPay, from my coworkers and I, trying to get one of the wallet working so we won't starve in China

1) I have both accounts registered with same local phone number and gone through all the necessary SMS verifications.
2) Both accounts are verified as deeply as it can with US-issue passport, no Chinese ID, no Chinese bank account.
3) I added the same US-issue credit card to both accounts.
4) Both wallets appears in "functional" state, meaning I can launch and access wallet and not get alerts or warning about lock out or limited function.

Here are the key observations:
1) Tried to receive 5RMB from a local coworker - AliPay allowed me to accept but Weixin Pay did not.
2) Coworker tried to receive about 1000RMB from the same coworker and also worked on AliPay and not on Weixin Pay.
3) The "transfer from" coworker has long established accounts - basically our local person in China, so his account is not new.
3) Tried to spend the RMB in our AliPay "cash balance" - my 5RMB was spent with no issue; my worker tried to buy a mid-price Bluetooth headset and the "hundred RMB" range transaction was blocked. He has the cash balance but they decline to let him spend it. He attempt to buy a drink and AliPay did allow that.
4) I tried to pay for ~20RMB snack/meal with zero "cash balance". Once merchant scanned my QR code, the app prompted me to agree to the amount. The transaction triggered a charge to my credit card and app prompted me again to entered the CVV code!! Once I entered the CVV code, the transaction went through but it look a long time based on merchant feedback - the process does feel long to me as well compare to the usual swipe, insert or tap of my card in direct credit card transaction. Basically, every step require data exchanges between merchant, the pay platform server, me and then my bank and me again.
5) Same spend-via-credit card process for both Weixin Pay and AliPay.

In conclusion:
1) Same account setup/creation process for both, so it's an apple-to-apple comparison.
2) AliPay allowed me to accept money from friends/coworkers and spend it. Weixin Pay did not allow me to even accept money.
3) AliPay does allow you to spend small amount of that accepted money but not larger amount but not sure a few hundred RMB is consider a large amount.
3) Same spend process via charging the linked foreign-issued credit card.

All said and done, I'd recommend just use AliPay as it is more widely accepted and does allow you to transfer and spend petty cash.

Hahaha... My Chinese friends even asked me if I can only get locked-out during their daylight hours

In my case, most of my contacts are business associates. It's hard and weird for me to keep asking them to "verify me" whenever I get locked out. There are way too many possible triggers to get the account locked out. The good news is that most Chinese also experience lock out or account restrictions, so they understand the pain. Locals are telling me that e-wallet fraud is rampant in China, so these platforms are restricting anything remotely suspicious much more aggressively than before.

Same experience as you (detailed in the wiki) except I never got declined. Granted I didn�t try anything larger than Y271