How to Use WeChat in China: The Complete Guide Every Foreign Traveller Needs Before Landing

Written By: Somudranil Sarkar

Somudranil Sarkar

Somudranil Sarkar is a literary artist whose writing blends precision with imagination, delving deep into human emotions and societal constructs. As a writer, he crafts stories that breathe life into abstract ideas, creating worlds where language serves as both paint and canvas. As an editor, Sarkar shapes narratives that resonate globally, elevating writing beyond grammar to tell meaningful, profound stories. His work challenges readers to reflect, question, and understand the world more deeply. With his unique vision, Sarkar pushes boundaries, leaving a lasting imprint on both literature and the way we connect through words.

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August 31, 2026 4:43 PM

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WeChat is the one app you’ll rely on for messaging, payments and everyday services across the country. Here’s how to set it up before you fly, and how to use it once you land.

Why WeChat Is the First Thing to Set Up

In China, three everyday things run through WeChat: messaging people, paying, and getting day-to-day tasks done. It’s how the taxi gets paid, how the menu gets ordered, how the museum ticket gets bought, and how a new acquaintance becomes a contact. Set it up before your trip and you can communicate, pay and navigate from your first hour on the ground.

It also helps to clear up some outdated advice that still circulates online. You may have read that you need a Chinese phone number to register, a China-issued bank card to pay, or local friends to “approve” your account. For today’s version of WeChat, none of that is required: most visitors can register with their home mobile number, pay with an international card such as Visa or Mastercard, and finish setup on their own. Following current steps — rather than years-old forum posts — saves a lot of needless worry.

Step 1: Download or Update WeChat Before You Leave Home

While you still have an easy connection and full access to your usual app store, open the Apple App Store or Google Play and install — or update to — the latest version of WeChat. Doing this at home avoids problems later, since some app-store and account features behave differently once you are connected to a network inside China.

Step 2: Choose Your Language Right at the Start

On the registration screen, tap the upper-right corner and pick your preferred interface language before you register. WeChat offers more than 20 interface languages, so you can run the entire app in one you are comfortable with from the very first tap.

Step 3: Register With Your Home Mobile Number

Register or log in using your own mobile number, on the phone you plan to carry in China. Keeping it on your travel device from the start makes verification consistent later. Once you are in, save your password somewhere safe — a trusted password manager is ideal — so that if the app ever asks you to log in again, you are never locked out at an inconvenient moment.

Step 4: Grant the Permissions That Make WeChat Work

It is natural to be cautious about app permissions, but turning everything off will leave core features broken. The simplest approach is to know what each one does, then decide:

•Storage (Android) — required. Necessary for WeChat to store your chats (in your device) and other essential data.

•Notifications — strongly recommended. Needed to be alerted when a friend messages you.

•Photos and videos — strongly recommended. Needed to share or save photos in chats, Moments and other features.

•Camera — strongly recommended. Needed to take and share photos in chats and Moments, and to make video calls.

•Microphone — strongly recommended. Needed for voice messages and voice or video calls.

•Location — strongly recommended. Needed for key scenarios such as pinning or sharing a location in maps and delivery apps.

Only Storage is strictly mandatory; the rest are optional but unlock the features most travellers actually want. Turn them on according to how you’ll use the app — and remember you can change any of them later in your phone’s settings.

Step 5: Spend Five Minutes on These Settings

A quick pass through settings makes the whole app easier to use day to day:

•Set up your profile (Me → Settings → Profile): add a photo, use a name people will recognise, and pick a WeChat ID so others can find you and send a friend request.

•Secure your account (Me → Settings → Account Security → More Settings): link at least one backup verification method — email, a passkey, or Sign in with Apple. This is your safety net if the app ever asks for extra verification.

•Translation language (Me → Settings → General → Language): set your preferred language here, then you can translate almost any chat message by long-pressing it and tapping Translate.

•How people can add you (Me → Settings → General → Methods for Friending Me): to protect your privacy while still being easy to reach, enable “Require Friend Request” and turn on all the Methods for Friending Me so contacts can add you safely and conveniently.

Step 6: Set Up Weixin Pay

To pay in shops and online with your phone, activate Weixin Pay and link a credit card (Visa, Mastercard, etc.) as a payment source.

WeChat Features to Learn Before Visiting China

Take a few minutes to get familiar with WeChat’s most important features for travelling in China:

•Sending a text message

•Adding a contact

•Accepting or declining a friend request

•Creating a group chat

•Translating a message

•Paying in a store with Weixin Pay

•What Mini Programs are

•Finding or scanning a Mini Program code

•Paying with Weixin Pay inside an app or Mini Program

•Finding the “Foreign Traveller Wallet” and the services available

•Placing a video or voice call

•What Moments are

Getting Online: Roaming, eSIMs and What Actually Works in China

This is the part travellers skip most often, and it causes the most trouble — so it’s worth a few minutes now. A couple of realities to plan around:

Some familiar services — Google Search, Gmail and Google Maps among them — aren’t reachable on a China connection. Many visitors only discover this after landing. Leaning on a VPN isn’t a dependable fix either: some don’t work inside China, and unusual connection patterns can accidentally trip security checks on your WeChat account.

The reliable approach is mobile roaming, in one of two ways:

•Roaming on your home plan. Switch on roaming voice and SMS so you can receive the verification codes that arrive by text — this is essential for keeping your account accessible. Adding roaming data also lets you reach non-China services when you need them. Ask your operator in advance for any settings you’ll need, and note them down before you fly.

•An eSIM with China data. Often a more cost-effective option for data, an eSIM that includes roaming data inside China gives you reliable, affordable access to non-Chinese services such as Google and Gmail. Common providers include getNomad.app and Airalo (mentioned for reference, not as an endorsement). One important catch: an eSIM data plan usually doesn’t carry your phone number, so if the number linked to your WeChat account isn’t roaming for SMS, you won’t receive verification OTP texts or calls. That’s exactly why the email or passkey backup from Step 5 matters — set it up, and you won’t be locked out just because a code can’t reach you.

After You Land

If you arranged roaming cellular and/or roaming data before the trip, follow the instructions from your operator to enable your roaming service as soon as you arrive. Taking a minute to confirm you can receive an SMS on the number linked to WeChat means any later verification step will go smoothly.

Before You Fly: Quick Checklist

Get these done at home and you’ll land ready to go from day one:

•Download or update WeChat

•Register with your home mobile number, and save your password

•Set your interface and translation languages

•Grant the permissions you need

•Activate Weixin Pay and link a credit card

•Add a backup login (email or passkey)

•Arrange roaming or an eSIM so you can receive verification codes

With setup done before departure, WeChat keeps you connected, lets you pay with a quick scan, and puts everyday services in one app — leaving you free to enjoy the places you visit and the people you meet.