What App(s) do you need for China when (almost) everything is blocked

Here's a quick and dirty list to make sure you're China-Ready, aside from getting yourself a Visa. Malaysians, you'll need one.

Internet connectivity

Local prepaid SIM pack is NOT accessible in China. So if you don't want to pay for data roaming with your current telco provider, you can consider getting yourself a global SIM card. I got mine from iFree Group and selected the MOGO S Global Data SIM card.

App you'll need is the iApp.

How it works. You'll buy credit and select the data plan most suited for the length of your stay. I paid 10USD which gave me 1000 credit points and I used 700 points to buy a 3 days data package which gave me 300MB high speed data per day and unlimited data at throttled speed after depleting the 300MB data. It's sort of sufficient to get me through a full day of navigation.

The best part about having this SIM card is that it allows internet access to my usual social media platform (Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram) which if you're not aware already, is blocked in China.

VPN

Which naturally brings me to my next point. Download an app that allows you to 翻墙, getting that VPN connection. I used Betternet and was on their free version which works alright. 

This will help you access the usually blocked websites (social media, Google, Youtube, etc). 

Navigations

Unless you've got yourself equipped with your route planning beforehand, you're going to find yourself in trouble when you realise you can't access Google Maps.

Wait what?! This is especially crucial for those who wants to find out things like which train/bus route to take.

Apple Maps were fine, surprisingly. But better yet, download Baidu Maps. It's super useful, especially with a really neat feature of theirs i.e their AR feature to assist you with path navigation.

Impressed. I was. 

Mobile payments

It's extremely common in China to make payments by scanning a QR code. The most common one is using their e-wallet via WeChat. However, as a foreigner, you won't be able to enable this feature in your WeChat account as it requires a China identification, local mobile number and a China bank account. I'd say don't bother. 

If you'd like to try, I was able to set up my Alipay before heading over, using my local Malaysia credit card. But oopsie... I forgot to ACTUALLY try it out in China to make sure it works. So maybe give this a go and let me know? 

All in all, don't worry. As much as anyone/everyone telling you that China is going cashless, they still accept cash. No one will tell you "no sorry we don't take cash". At least it's still as such when I visited Shanghai in May 2019. 

App for cabs

Taking a cab in China is considerably affordable and safe. However, hailing one on the street might be a bit tricky.

Instead, I'll suggest you to download Didi. It's akin to Uber/Grab. I was able to link my Didi account with my Malaysia credit cards and it worked beautifully. Just make sure to set the right pick-up location. It got a bit tricky when the driver couldn't contact me because the account was set to my Malaysia mobile number and I've switched it off during my travel. There's in-app translation so bananas, you're saved.

Another piece of advice for the those not familiar with the language, always keep a copy of the addresses on places you intend to visit, in Chinese characters. Most taxi drivers don't speak English. It will make your trip a lot smoother.

That's all folks... 

Basic survival kit I'd say!