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PANDA CONCIERGEChina
PANDA CONCIERGEChina

First arrival

Your first day in China

What to get done in the first day so everything works afterwards: a number, payments, an address and transport.

7 min readUpdated: 26 August 2026
photo: the Bund in the morning, looking across to Pudong

Before you fly

Download WeChat and Alipay in advance: app stores work differently in China, and the first install is easier done at home.

Save the hotel address in characters, both as a screenshot and as text. A taxi driver almost never reads the Latin alphabet, and showing a screen is faster than explaining.

Check that your card is not blocked for use abroad, and bring a little cash in yuan for the first day.

Worth knowing

Your hotel address in Chinese characters is the only thing on this list you cannot get once you are there: with no internet and no language, there is nobody to ask.

At the airport, in order

  1. A SIM card

    The operator’s shop is in the arrivals area. You need the original passport and the address where you are staying: the number is registered to a named person.

    An eSIM is quicker to activate, but registering with local services usually needs a genuine Chinese number.

  2. Money

    ATMs in the terminal accept foreign cards, with a per-transaction limit. Take out a little — enough for the taxi and the first few purchases.

  3. Getting there

    The official taxi rank is signposted from inside the terminal.

    The “taxi, taxi” offers in the arrivals hall cost two or three times the metered fare.

On the first evening

Link your card to Alipay and make a small test payment. Better to discover the card does not work at the hotel desk than at a supermarket till.

Set up WeChat and ask someone you know to vouch for the registration: without that, new accounts are often blocked in the first few days.

Keep in your notes the hotel address, the nearest metro station and the check-in desk number — that is enough to get back from anywhere in the city.

Careful

Cash is not accepted everywhere: some cafés and taxis take QR payment only. You cannot rely on notes as your main way of paying.

Where people usually trip up

The number is registered against a passport, so buying a SIM “for a friend” is not possible.

WeChat registration from a foreign number often fails — get the local SIM first, then the messenger.

Checked: 26 August 2026

Editor: The PANDA editorial team

What you can hand to PANDA

Transfer and airport meet-and-greetThe driver tracks the flight, waits if you're late and helps with luggage and a SIM. Paid in advance through Panda.from ¥350 / tripPaperwork and settling inWe'll build the document list for your procedure, book the right desk, come with you and interpret. Bank, registration, SIM, health insurance.from ¥1 000Household and everyday errandsA handyman, cleaning, deliveries, internet, calling out a service, shopping, waiting in for a courier — one message in the chat, with a photo report.from ¥300

Sources

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