Can I use a card to pay for taxis in China, or should I carry local cash?
My advice for China is to forget about card payments in taxis. You’ll either need to adapt to WeChat/Alipay or stick to cash. When I stayed near People’s Square in Shanghai, none of my rides took cards. Some drivers even acted confused when I asked. Cash was okay, but mobile apps are the norm now. Carry yuan in small denominations and don’t rely on your Mastercard or Visa here - they just don’t use them in taxis.
I thought I could swipe my Visa in a Beijing taxi and quickly realized that’s not how it works. The driver didn’t even know how to use the machine. Everyone was scanning QR codes while I was fumbling for cash. Thankfully, taxis do still accept banknotes, but always have exact change because drivers don’t carry much. Card payments are basically non-existent. Mobile payments are king, with cash as the backup.
In Shanghai, my driver told me their card machine hadn’t worked in years. Everyone pays with WeChat Pay. I didn’t have it linked, so I gave him cash and he accepted it reluctantly. In Beijing it was the same story. Honestly, cards are almost useless in taxis. If you can, get WeChat Pay set up with your bank card before you arrive. Otherwise, cash in yuan is fine, but smaller notes are better.
China is tricky. Technically, taxis in big cities like Beijing or Shanghai may have card readers, but almost nobody uses them. Everything is paid through apps like WeChat Pay or Alipay. As a foreigner, this can be frustrating unless you’ve set up those apps with a foreign card. Cash still works in taxis, but some drivers act annoyed when you hand over banknotes. If you can’t use mobile payments, carry cash in yuan and expect to use it.