The official platforms you actually need in China
Most "essential apps for China" lists are affiliate pages. These are the government platforms that handle real paperwork — registration, rail tickets, hospital appointments — and what each one is for.
Search for apps to install before coming to China and you get affiliate lists. This is the other kind: the official platforms that handle actual paperwork. Several are not apps at all, and one of them has a deadline attached.
Start with these two, or nothing else works
Almost every platform below authenticates by Chinese mobile number and settles through a payment app. Get both first:
- A Chinese SIM — real-name registered, one passport can hold up to five numbers. See getting a SIM card.
- Alipay or WeChat Pay — both now accept international cards, though different networks each. Alipay runs in 16 languages. See paying with a foreign card.
12306 — rail tickets
China Railway’s official platform, with an English website and app. Start identity verification before you fly: a foreign passport must clear verification before it can buy tickets online, and that takes three to five working days.
Until it clears you can still buy at station counters with your passport. Full detail: trains and metro.
Accommodation registration — city by city
The 24-hour registration rule is national, but the online systems are municipal. Where one exists it is faster than the police station and sidesteps the counter language barrier:
- Shanghai — the Public Security Bureau runs an online 24-hour accommodation registration service with an English interface
- Beijing — online accommodation registration, available in English, French, Japanese, Korean and Russian
- Guangzhou — the PSB online service system for foreign nationals includes personal accommodation declaration
Suishenban (随申办) — Shanghai government services
Shanghai’s municipal service app carries exit-entry services in its International version, including appointment booking for residence permit and permanent residence applications.
Beijing 114 — hospital appointments
Foreigners can book outpatient appointments through “International Service Beijing” on the Beijing 114 platform — a mini programme inside WeChat or Alipay that switches to English. See seeing a doctor.
Shenzhen — Police Service Platform
Shenzhen takes exit-entry appointments through its Police Service Platform and the Shenzhen Public Security WeChat account. Book before going; walk-in capacity is limited. See Shenzhen.
What this list deliberately leaves out
No ride-hailing, food delivery or map apps. Not because they do not matter — they do — but because those are commercial services that change, compete and pay for placement. Everything above is a government platform performing a function you are legally required or officially entitled to use, and each is cited to the authority that runs it.
Sources
- China Railway 12306 — English FAQ
- Shanghai PSB — Online 24-hour accommodation registration
- Beijing Municipal Government — Guide for Registering Accommodation Online
- Guangzhou PSB — Online accommodation declaration for foreign nationals
- Shanghai Municipal Government — Online exit-entry services
- Beijing Municipal Government — Medical Guide for Foreigners
Platform availability, language support and login requirements change, and several of these are city-specific. This page records what the official sources said on the verification date shown above.