The one setup that saves your whole trip
Bind your foreign Visa or Mastercard to Alipay (支付宝) and/or WeChat Pay before you fly. Inside Alipay: Me → Bank Cards → add card; WeChat: Me → Services → Wallet. Both now accept international cards as standard. QR payments then work everywhere — street food, taxis, museums.
Limits & fees to expect
Foreign-card payments via Alipay/WeChat are cheap but not always free — small transaction fees may apply, and some cards hit fraud alerts on first use: notify your bank that you're traveling. Daily caps apply per transaction tier; big purchases go back to your physical card.
Cash is backup, not primary
Carry a few hundred RMB for very small vendors, remote areas and emergencies. ATMs that reliably take foreign cards: Bank of China, ICBC and HSBC machines. Exchange desks exist at every airport — rates are acceptable for small amounts.
What still doesn't work well
Amex acceptance inside Alipay is patchy; some hotel pre-authorizations on foreign cards take weeks to release; and Apple Pay/Google Pay remain useless for Chinese QR codes. Alipay+ (accepted in some Chinese apps) is improving but don't depend on it.