Paying in China
Part of Before you go, a sourced pre-trip guide for a first visit to Shanghai. Checked 2026-10-03; rules change, so each step links to its source. Data version 5e1254c0b277.
≤¥200: no platform fee — Transactions of 200 yuan or less are generally exempt from the platform fee.
In short
- Bind an eligible foreign card in Alipay or Weixin Pay.
- Keep a number that can receive SMS.
- Card limits differ by source — check the app.
- Confirm the 200-yuan fee boundary on the payment page.
- Carry a little cash and keep some smaller notes.
Bind a foreign card in Alipay or Weixin
1. Download Alipay (blue icon) or WeChat before you travel.
2. Register Alipay with an overseas number; you can change it later if you get a Chinese SIM.
3. Add a card in Alipay under Me → Bank Cards.
4. In Weixin Pay, use Me → Services → Wallet → Bank Cards.
5. Use an eligible international card.
6. Keep a number that can receive SMS.
7. WeChat's English help says a Chinese +86 number is not required if your international number can receive texts.
8. Passport users are asked to upload a copy.
9. Check that your card is eligible even if its network is supported.
10. Weixin Pay lists Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB, Discover and Diners Club.
11. Eligibility still depends on the issuer, and not every merchant accepts every bound card.
12. Ask at the airport one-stop desks in PVG T1/T2 international arrivals or SHA T1 for payment-app setup help.
13. Bring a passport or other valid ID.
- The overseas-number registration is described on Shanghai's English government pages.
Sources: Shanghai Municipal People's Government, WeChat Help Center, Shanghai Municipal People's Government
Check in-app: $5k/$50k vs WeChat RMB caps
1. Check the limits in the app, because two official pages differ.
2. Shanghai government English payment pages give the USD limits for linked overseas cards.
3. Up to $5,000 per transaction and $50,000 per year for Alipay or Weixin Pay.
4. Check the app for your account's limits.
5. The city pages say transactions of 200 yuan or less are generally exempt from the platform service fee.
6. Above 200 yuan, a 3 percent fee may apply to the full amount.
7. Check the payment page before confirming; issuer FX fees are separate.
8. Note the different RMB caps on WeChat's English help centre.
9. 6,500 RMB per transaction, 50,000 RMB per month and 65,000 RMB per year.
10. On the fee, that page says below 200 yuan versus above 200 yuan and does not spell out the equal-200 case.
11. Do not treat the two pages as identical at 200 yuan.
- The USD figures on shanghai.gov.cn and the RMB figures on WeChat help are both printed. This item does not convert them or pick a winner; prefer the in-app confirmation screen on the day of payment.
- The USD limits are on Shanghai government English payment pages dated 20 and 21 September 2026.
- Sources disagree:
- english.shanghai.gov.cn 2026-09-21: single $5,000, annual $50,000 for overseas cards linked to Alipay or Weixin Pay. (Shanghai Municipal People's Government, Shanghai Municipal People's Government)
- help.wechat.com international-card guide: 6,500 RMB single, 50,000 RMB monthly, 65,000 RMB yearly. (WeChat Help Center)
Sources: Shanghai Municipal People's Government, Shanghai Municipal People's Government, WeChat Help Center
POS networks; ATM generally ¥3,000 per withdrawal
1. At participating merchants, look for UnionPay, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB, Diners Club or Discover logos.
2. Withdraw RMB from an ATM that shows your card's network logo.
3. Shanghai.gov.cn gives a general limit of 3,000 yuan per ATM transaction.
4. Your issuer may add daily or monthly caps.
5. Carry a little cash if you want.
6. FCDO says cashless QR is almost universal.
7. Counterfeit 100-yuan notes exist, including from ATMs, and banks will not replace them.
8. Pay at participating mainland merchants with overseas e-wallets on Alipay+.
9. Examples: Kakao Pay, Naver Pay, Toss Pay, AlipayHK, GCash and TrueMoney.
10. The city page lists others.
- The city ATM and POS pages do not say small change is scarce. Keep some smaller notes as an editor precaution, not as an official finding.
Sources: Shanghai Municipal People's Government, Shanghai Municipal People's Government, UK FCDO
Tour Pass / TourCard: no official new-issue notice found
1. Use the path the city pages describe: link an overseas card inside Alipay or Weixin Pay.
2. Those pages do not present Tour Pass or TourCard as the visitor product.
3. They also do not say those products are closed to new users.
4. Treat Tour Pass and TourCard as different product names seen in commercial English pages.
5. Official silence is not evidence that leftover cards can still be issued.
6. It is also not a dated Alipay retirement notice.
7. Two commercial 2026 guides say new TourPass or TourCard sign-ups are no longer offered.
8. Those pages are commercial and do not replace an Ant International English notice.
- Not confirmed by an official source yet.
Sources: Shanghai Municipal People's Government, China Neighbor, MapTrip
Traveller tips
- First purchase may ask for a selfie. A traveller on Reddit (March 2026) set up both apps in advance; on the first purchase Alipay asked for a passport photo plus face recognition. They wrote it was manageable as long as you are not holding up a line. One traveller's March 2026 first purchase, not a rule for every account. (frog_n_rosbif, 2026-03-02)
- Check Identity information reads verified. A commenter on Reddit (March 2026) advised checking Alipay Account → My account → Identity information, which should read 'verified', including the passport and selfie. Setup advice on that thread, not a dated Shanghai visit report. (philipmj24, 2026-03-02)
- Two debit cards would not bind. A traveller on Reddit (March 2026) could not bind two debit cards to WeChat or Alipay. One visitor's cards, not a rule that all debit cards fail. (ApeSander, 2026-03-05)
- One pair's Wise and Apple Card experience. A traveller on Reddit (April 2026) wrote that after trying many cards, Wise and Apple Card were the ones that stayed reliable for that pair of travellers. One individual issuer result, not a product ranking. (PurpleQuantity6688, 2026-04-02)
- A merchant QR that failed in Chinese. A traveller on Reddit (April 2026), British, linked Alipay to Wise. Scanning a vendor QR appeared to work, but the payment did not go through, and the error messages stayed in Chinese even with the interface set to English; a Chinese relative read that it would not work with foreign cards. One traveller's April 2026 attempt, not a general rule about merchant QRs. (Worldly-Fig-5270, 2026-04-26)
- Where home KYC stalled, airport KYC worked. A traveller on Reddit (June 2025) linked Commerzbank, Revolut and other neo-bank cards at home after unlocking international transactions, but identity verification kept asking for a Bank of China card number. After landing, the same flow asked only for a passport plus face and verified. One 2025 landing, not a GDPR diagnosis for every EU visitor. (cv-x, 2025-06-24)
- Top-up may need a Chinese bank card. A traveller on Reddit (November 2025) had WeChat and Alipay verified with an international card added, but in-app top-up asked for a Chinese bank card. The next day, on the same account, payments were working and they did not need to top up. One author's result; it does not prove a general per-scan debit rule. (cubantouch, 2025-11-14; cubantouch, 2025-11-15)
- A Japanese log of Alipay setup. A Japanese travel log (posted 15 August 2026, visit July 2026) registered Alipay with a Japanese number, switched the app to Japanese first, finished passport KYC before departure, spent no cash after a 200-yuan airport withdrawal, and saw a pre-authorization of about 15 yuan on a metro tap, then the real fare. The article contains an ahamo ValueCommerce referral, so this is a commercially linked personal log, not a non-commercial corroboration. Keep the visit details; do not surface the referral. (solo-trip-log, 2026-08-15)
- Confirm the fee on the payment screen. On english.shanghai.gov.cn, 200 yuan or less is generally exempt from the platform service fee, and above 200 yuan a 3 percent fee may apply to the full amount. WeChat help uses below or above 200 yuan in English and does not state the equal-200 case. Check the confirmation page, and remember issuer FX is extra. (Shanghai Municipal People's Government, 2026-09-21; WeChat Help Center)