How to Set Up Alipay and WeChat Pay as a Foreigner in China

Set up Alipay first (it's the easier one)

1. Download and register. Get Alipay from your app store and sign up with your home-country phone number — you will get an SMS code.
2. Verify with your passport. Go to Me → Settings → Account and Security → Identity Verification and upload your passport. Verification unlocks the real limits: up to about US$5,000 per single transaction and US$50,000 per year (unverified accounts are capped at roughly US$2,000 lifetime).
3. Link your card. In Me → Bank Cards → Add, enter your Visa/Mastercard/Amex details. You can add up to 10 cards; limits are per identity, not per card.
4. Know the fee rule. Payments of ¥200 or less are free. Anything above ¥200 incurs a 3% Alipay platform fee on the full amount, plus whatever foreign-transaction fee your own bank charges — so a 0% FX-fee card pays for itself fast.

Then add WeChat Pay

1. You need WeChat first. Download WeChat and register (a friend already on WeChat can sometimes speed up verification).
2. Open WeChat Pay. Go to Me → Pay and Services → Wallet → Cards → Add a Card, and link the same international card.
3. Verify with your passport when prompted — same US$5,000 / US$50,000 caps apply after verification.
4. Note the quirk. WeChat Pay keeps its own lower per-transaction tier (around ¥6,000) for many foreign-card users, so keep Alipay as your primary for big purchases.

Daily use: the three gestures to learn

• Paying in stores: open Alipay → Pay/收付款 shows your QR code; the cashier scans it. Or tap Scan and scan the merchant's code, then enter the amount.
• 乘车码 (transport code): in Alipay, search 乘车码, select your city, and enable it once — then your phone becomes your subway/bus ticket in most major cities.
• Receiving money: transfers and red packets (红包) between individuals generally require a Chinese bank card, so don't count on friends sending you money through the apps.

Watch out

• The old "Tour Pass" is dead. Alipay's former prepaid Tour Pass for foreigners was retired — direct card linking replaced it. Any guide still telling you to buy one is outdated.
• Split big payments. That ¥2,400 hotel bill? Two ¥1,200 charges won't dodge the 3% fee (it's per transaction over ¥200), but keeping single charges modest avoids issuer fraud flags.
• Keep some cash anyway. Sub-¥200 spending is fee-free on the apps, but rural areas, some taxis, and temple donation boxes still run on cash.

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