The best translation apps for China

Four modes and what to use for each

1. 1

   Camera — menus, signs, price tags

   Point the camera and the translation is laid straight over the image. This is the mode you will use most on a trip and the most useful one.

   Most of the major apps have it. Download the Chinese offline pack in advance and the camera will translate without a connection.

2. 2

   Voice — a conversation on the spot

   Conversation mode: you speak, the app says the translation aloud, the other person answers. Good for a short exchange with a driver or a shop assistant.

   The limits are real: a long conversation is hard to carry this way, and on a noisy street recognition falters.

3. 3

   Screen — Chinese apps

   Screen translation is what you need when you are working your way through a local app: delivery, a marketplace, a bank. How it works depends on the phone — on some models it is a system feature.

   An option with nothing to install: take a screenshot and run it through image translation.

4. 4

   Dictionary — individual words and characters

   Pleco is the best Chinese–English dictionary and the main tool if you are working things out properly: it shows the meaning of each character, the stroke order and examples. It works offline.

   It is the dictionary rather than the translator that saves you with dish names and legal terms: what matters there is the meaning of the parts, not a smooth sentence.

What to pick

Baidu Translate and the other local apps always work inside China and understand local names, realities and abbreviations better. The interface is Chinese, but the modes are recognisable by their icons.

Apple Translate works on an iPhone in mainland China, supports offline mode and needs no installation.

Pleco is not a replacement for a translation app but a companion to it. Install both.

A practical set: one local translation app for camera and voice, plus Pleco as the dictionary. Both with their offline data downloaded.