China is a vast country in so many ways – an ocean of energetic people with an ancient, storied culture and a written language based on an entirely different approach.
Yet the challenges for foreigners today are nowhere near as big as they were just a few decades ago, when you almost had to be a Sinophile to survive. In addition to modern retail outlets, restaurants and services, smartphone apps and the web have made functioning and navigating in China profoundly easier for everyone. What China Apps do we recommend? Check out this list.
1. WeChat
The most popular smartphone app in use today is WeChat — a blend of WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, and more — which is pretty much standard issue for anyone who is connected and communicating. With some 600 million accounts, its users would comprise the third-largest country in the world if they were considered virtual citizens.
“What’s your WeChat ID?” can often be the third or fourth sentence between new acquaintances and colleagues alike.
The app offers chat, voice, video and photo communication free of charge. To install, scan the QR code with your smartphone, download the installation file, install it, create a user ID and you are set to go. Once you’ve acquired a local SIM card on your arrival in China, it works anywhere there is cellphone service.
An added benefit for expats is for friends and family is to install WeChat before leaving the home country, adding all as contacts, and everyone can stay in touch at no extra charge. You can send updates known as Moments to everyone on your contacts list or communicate individually in real time. Works with 2G, 3G and Wi-Fi.
2. Grabtalk
Or how about an online secretary who speaks and writes English? Riding on the success of WeChat, you can add Grabtalk as a contact (WeChat ID: Grabtalk). Grabtalk bills itself as “your helpful local friend” that is designed to provide an answer “to just about anything you can think of.”
Its staff will find theater tickets, organize a home delivery of food or medicine, find you a manicure and massage, book a cab or provide long-distance travel arrangements.
By texting the online staff, you can get real-time responses in English – followed by the real goods and services. A recent test by a Beijing city magazine, made difficult on purpose, yielded the desired result of home food delivery from a restaurant that doesn’t normally deliver.
3. Pleco
One of the biggest challenges for a foreigner functioning in China has long been its written language. Learning Chinese characters requires strenuous effort over a long period and there is no other way to learn it than repetition and memorization.
But a smartphone app has literally cracked the code. Pleco is a dictionary at its core, but has brought that to the digital age with optical character recognition, tap-and-translate capacity for image files, and also audio translation and full-screen handwriting input.
Users find it a practical way to read a menu – just take a photo, tap the Chinese character, and see the translation – or find out the finer points of an agreement written in Chinese, or even read a newspaper.
The software ranges in price from free to $40 depending on the configuration. Download from Google Play or AppStore
4. Explore Metro
Knowing where you’re going is crucial anywhere, but in a vast city such as Beijing it can mean the difference between a trip and an epic journey. Even the wrong exit at some metro stops could result in a significant hike or a dash across congested traffic.
The Metro Map app offers the up-to-date configuration of every station on every metro line, and updates for future station openings and timetable changes.
It uses integrated Google Maps to help you get your bearings at a station and nearby streets. Its route planner provides route, time and price information for any journey with just three taps. As well, it can use your GPS to show a list of the closest metro stations to your current location.
It also works offline if a Wi-Fi or 3G connection is unavailable. Download from Google Play or AppStore.
5. Baidu Translate
Many web services provide online translation between various languages and Chinese, but due to China’s “Great Firewall” some, including Google, are blocked. The country’s standard search engine Baidu offers online translation that is easily accessible. Simply type or paste the text or website address into the translation box and you will have a facsimile in the language you desire.
Be aware that no matter how good the software, machine translation provides imperfect results. The site is available at www.translate.baidu.com. Or download from Google Play or AppStore.
6. Air quality
Though Beijing’s air is improving a bit, pollution remains the single biggest challenge facing locals and expats alike. If you really want to start your day by knowing if the air is tolerable, hourly readings are available from Air Quality China. You may choose different stations, like the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, it measures PM2.5, the finest standard for particulate matter. Download from Google Play or AppStore.
7. Ctrip
China’s largest online travel agency, Ctrip provides airline, hotel and other bookings for both domestic and international travel. It can sometimes actually offer better deals than its international competitors because many airlines, hotels and tourism authorities are offering special rates to tap the burgeoning Chinese outbound travel market. And if you want to pay cash in Chinese currency, a courier will deliver airline tickets to your door and collect the money. Book at www.english.ctrip.com. Download from Google Play or AppStore.
8. Taobao
As China’s largest online shopping portal, Taobao offers such a bewildering array of goods that some Chinese even do their grocery shopping over the web. Though it is a difficult task for a foreigner to navigate the language and ID requirements, one of the delightful aspects of working in China is helpful colleagues and friends. Almost all Chinese working in offices have an account and are invariably willing to place the order for you – then you pay them in cash.
Beware of fakes, but individual online shops could carry the small items you miss from home. An extremely competitive environment, the successful shops are run by industrious locals keen to get ahead by finding a niche, which often includes imports. Place the order at www.taobao.com and reimburse your friend. Delivery is reliable, and even goods from distant cities arrive by courier in a few days. Download from Google Play or AppStore.
9. Your home team
The live online sports sector has many providers competing for viewers, so there is a realistic chance you can watch your team even as you reside in China. Major sites include www.lesports.com, www.sports.sina.com.cn, www.kbs.sports.qq.com and www.iqiyi.com/sports. And like so many organizations, Western sports teams are making a push to attract their portion of the huge Chinese market, so many of the usual rights fees and regulations have been waived.
Fans of American football can find what’s on over the internet at www.nflchina.com/english.
10. Email
The “Great Firewall” of China can also pose difficulties with email, particularly Gmail, but there are ways to work around it. Apple’s iPhone operating system comes with an embedded POP mail client for Gmail that still operates in China. But the situation remains in flux and services can be blocked with no notice or explanation.
A good way to ensure access is to establish a Hotmail account and have your Gmail account forward a copy to that. During his recent trip to the U.S., Chinese President Xi Jinping toured the Microsoft facility in Seattle, so it appears that the software giant’s products – which include Hotmail – should remain free from blockage.
