Welcome to the new age of applications (apps)! If you want to keep up with everything going on in this fast paced city, get on board with all the apps and mini-programs that make life easier. Some even have in-built translation functions to make it a little more comfortable to use if you are not as literate as you’d like in Chinese. So, here’s our pick of must have apps on your phone to get you started and make living here much more convenient. The world is at your fingertips!
Table of Contents
Shopping
1. Taobao (淘宝)
Language: Chinese
Best for: buying anything and everything!
Owned by the Alibaba group, Taobao is one of the biggest shopping apps, possibly in the world! If there’s something you’re looking for, no matter how obscure, Taobao usually has it. As some people will say; if it’s not on Taobao, it doesn’t exist. The platform is all in Chinese, but screenshots and using a translation app can help you read reviews, talk to store owners about products and navigate the app (hint: keep reading to learn about BaoPals!). While shipping is mostly domestic, it can ship internationally, so play around and get all your friends on it!
Here are a few tips to enhance your shopping experience:
- Many well-known brands, both domestic and international, have official flagship stores on Taobao. Find them by including the text 官方旗舰店. Alternatively, you can select 天猫 or Tmall (Taobao Mall) in your search results to buy from official retail vendors. These options are the best way to know you’re purchasing from an authentic vendor.
- Some imported brands do not have a presence in China, therefore you may be buying from a small shop importer. If this is the case, you can check reviews for the product, or at least check the store’s popularity (how many followers or “fans” the shop has) and overall store ratings. It can also be helpful to click 销量 when viewing the store’s full inventory to see the most popular items purchased from the shop.
- Read reviews from people who have previously bought the product by scrolling down to 评价. Comparing the shop photo to real customer photos in the reviews can help immensely to get an idea of quality.
2. Jingdong (京东)
Language: Chinese
Best for: Buying anything and everything!
Jingdong (JD) is the next biggest online retail app and known for quality products as their vendors tend to be more strictly regulated. You can select 京东物流 when searching for items to find products and orders which will come directly from the JD store itself, rather than from an outside shop. As JD uses their own delivery drivers, rather than outsourcing their delivery of products like on Taobao, it can mean a faster delivery time. So packages from JD are shipped directly to your front door and because of this, JD can offer same day and next day guaranteed delivery with better estimated delivery times.
3. BaoPals
Language: English
Best for: Buying anything, but in English
Launched in 2016 by developers based in Shanghai, Baopals was developed to help users navigate shopping platforms Taobao, Tmall and JD in English. Stores are not selected, it is a real-time bridge between Chinese online shopping platforms. While starting out to shipping only within China, it can now ship overseas and the app can even be used overseas to search and buy things. They also now have a WeChat mini-program if you don’t want to download their app.
4. Pinduoduo (拼多多)
Language: Chinese
Best for: Group buying products
Whether you have friends and/or family to group buy items and share the costs, or if you want to get in with other people online to group buy products for cost-effective shopping, Pinduoduo is the app to do it! Pinduoduo sells snacks, drinks and household products.
5. Dangdang (当当)
Language: Chinese
Best for: Books (including foreign languages)
Dangdang is a shopping app that exclusively sells books. Prices and selection can vary compared to Taobao, but they often have foreign language books that are otherwise not available on Taobao. If there’s a book you can’t find on other shopping apps, Dangdang may just have it!
Grocery
6. Hema (盒马)
Language: Chinese
Best for: Daily groceries, household goods, ready-made food
Hema is known for fresh produce and quick delivery times (promising delivery within 30 minutes for most metropolitan areas). They have a wide selection of local (and some imported) fruits, local vegetables and meat, including an organic range, and also stock alcohol, ready-made meals, fresh bread, cooked foods, fresh flowers, frozen foods, plants, snacks and household goods (e.g. shampoo, tissues and cleaning products). All their deliveries are from physical stores throughout the city, so if you don’t get a chance to shop in one yourself, their own delivery staff will shop and deliver your groceries to your door.
7. Dingdong (叮咚买菜)
Language: Chinese
Best for: Daily groceries
Dingdong is a grocery delivery app that can have your fresh fruit, vegetables and meat at your door in 30 minutes or at a set time of your preference. There is a great selection of groceries that can be difficult to find in your average Chinese marketplace, especially when it comes to dairy. Although not as varied as an import store, it’s convenient for finding a basic mozzarella or whipping cream asap! As an added bonus, many meats and vegetables are sold pre-chopped/sliced when cooking on those busy weeknights!
8. Epermarket
Language: Chinese, English, French
Best for: International selection of products, ready-made meals
Epermarket has a huge selection of imported items. Dairy, meats, wines and even snacks from a variety of brands, they also sell pre-made dishes and ready-made meals, including special themed options during the holidays (e.g. Christmas turkey and ham with trimmings). Multiple delivery options are available at different price points depending on your needs. They also have a WeChat mini-program.
9. Sam’s Club
Language: Chinese
Best for: Bulk-order of daily groceries and household goods
Owned and operated by Walmart, Sam’s Club is a major chain of warehouse stores with imported and local food and products. Great for bulk buying all your groceries and household goods and delivering it directly to your door.
Mini-program Grocery Apps
While these grocery stores don’t have an app to download, they do have mini-programs you can find on WeChat to easily order and deliver your groceries. For great quality imported products, as well as local, have a look at these stores:
10. Aldi (奥乐齐)
Language: Chinese
Best for: Daily groceries, household goods
This German-based grocery store has expanded and become a favourite of many over the past few years. If you don’t have a physical store near you, find their WeChat mini-program to access their range of fresh produce such as fruit, vegetables, meat, bread and dairy. They also stock household items, alcohol, frozen foods, snacks and ready-made meals or hot food (e.g. rotisserie chicken).
11. Zikoland
Language: Chinese
Best for: Top quality special products (local or international)
Zikoland aims to bring high quality products in meats (e.g. Wagyu steaks), cellar (alcohol from around the world), farms (e.g. honey sourced locally or overseas) and pets (for your furry friend). Every week has a special product from these categories. Find them on their WeChat mini-program to browse and order their products for delivery, or join their WeChat groups to see their latest offers.
Food Delivery
12. Eleme (饿了么) or Taobao Shangou (淘宝闪购)
Language: Chinese
Best for: Ordering food/meals or items on-demand
This on-demand food and in-store delivery service allows you to browse local restaurants, cafes and shops nearby to deliver to your door. Feeling peckish and don’t want to cook? Then get whatever you feel like eating or drinking delivered to your door in 30 minutes or within the hour (depending on your location to the store). Need a cake asap? Find and get one delivered to you! Ran out of stationery? Find it on this app for quick delivery too! You can also find groceries for fresh produce here, as local wet markets are also on this app. Eleme was recently rebranded by Alibaba and is in the same group as Taobao, Hema and Alipay, so don’t be surprised if you see cross-promo between apps. You can also find the Eleme app in your Alipay and this version has a translate function, but downloading the app is all in Chinese.
13. Meituan (美团)
Language: Chinese
Best for: Ordering take-out or items needed asap
Another on-demand food and in-store delivery service, Meituan is a competitor to Eleme and you should be able to find the same restaurants, cafes and shops on here to get what you want from nearby stores with on-demand delivery.
Transportation and Travel
14. Baidu Maps (百度地图)
Language: Chinese
Best for: Traveling around
Whether you are walking, riding a bicycle or scooter, taking a bus or train, or travelling by car, Baidu maps can show you all the best routes to get you where you need to go. It can even tell you which floor your store in the mall is and how much shade your walking route has in summer. The public transport information is in real time, so it can tell you upcoming bus/train times and how long you have to wait. If you are taking the train, it can also tell you which door to get on so that walking to the transfer line is shorter. The power of information, you’ll never be lost!
15. Amap (高德地图)
Language: English and Chinese
Best for: Traveling around
With an English interface, Amap is great for getting around Shanghai if you can’t read Chinese. Whether you are riding, driving or walking, it also has real-time traffic and public transport information, so you’ll never be late again! Some claim it can plan routes better than Baidu and is more accurate.
16. Didi (滴滴打车)
Language: English and Chinese
Best for: Ride hailing
While you can still hail a taxi the old fashioned way, most people here use Didi. Similar to Uber/Lyft/Grab, you can call a taxi to pick you up almost anywhere in the city. Didi offers a variety of ride options, from the most basic “taxi” car to upgraded private cars with extra customer service (“white gloved service”). You can pick from 5-7 seater cars, pre-book cars for later pickups and there is also a pet option (with added fee), so you can travel with your furry friend around Shanghai. If you let the app know you are female, you can also request only female drivers to pick you up. Track your trip on the app, or share your trip with others via a link, and if you need customer care, their representatives have quick response times.
17. Trip
Language: English, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, and more!
Best for: Travel booking
Planning a weekend getaway? Booking flights? Trip.com is the most expat user-friendly app to find hotels and book all of your travel arrangements to anywhere in the world. Not sure where to go? Choose “Anywhere” when searching for flights or view the interactive map to check out the best flight deals leaving from where you are! As you use your Trip account more, you can get extra discounts on your future travel plans.
Entertainment
18. Dianping (点评)
Language: Chinese
Best for: Finding things to do anywhere (even overseas)
This is your all-in-one go-to app for looking for something fun to do with friends or the family. You can search for any activity here, from spas, movie theatres, amusement parks, hotels, theatre shows, restaurants and shops, and not only in Shanghai, but anywhere in China and around the world! You can book tickets on the app and get special discounts just for using this app to book. Looking for the latest movie showing times and which cinema to go to? Want to try a certain cuisine or new restaurant near you? Need tickets for an amusement park, museums or exhibit? Look no further than Dianping! Everything has reviews to help narrow down your selection.
19. Little Red Book / Xiaohongshu (小红书)
Language: Chinese and English
Best for: Looking up user-generated information
Little Red Book is like a combination of Pinterest and TikTok. Users can upload videos, images, content and links, as well as “favorite”, “love” or “comment” on posts. It’s a great platform for looking up information such as travel itineraries and recommendations, inspiration, product reviews or tips and tricks. However, content is user-generated, so just make sure you do your own research too!
Payment
20. Alipay / Zhifubao (支付宝)
Language: Chinese and English
Best for: Payments and more!
Most expats are already using the ubiquitous Alipay for cashless payments and money transfers, but did you know you can rent bikes, call a car, pay bills (under ‘Utilities’), ride public transport, shop online and ship packages using it? Switching your Alipay account to English will open your eyes to so much this app can help you while living here. There are also many other languages available, including English, Spanish, Arabic, Russian, Korean, and more.
21. WeChat/Weixin (微信)
Language: English, Chinese and more
Best for: Chat
WeChat is the ultimate resource for life in China. From messaging and video, to voice calling or sending and viewing “moments” (posts) in your friend circle, WeChat helps you stay connected and up-to-date with your social life. Use WeChat to follow official accounts for your favorite brands and organizations (such as the Shanghai Mamas account), to keep up to date with the latest information. Some businesses may prefer to keep things professional and ask you to use their WeCom account, which is the same as WeChat, but has functions for businesses like operation logs and customer handover capabilities. WeChat also has a mini-program function, which runs apps for businesses inside WeChat, so you can browse items and order delivery or book appointments all in WeChat without downloading an external app.
Having a party? Use the “Group Note” function to enable group members to easily add their name to a list to RSVP. WeChat also has payment features, such as paying someone directly, or they can scan your unique qr payment code, or enable money transfer between individuals. Want to share a payment with friends? There’s also a “Split Bill” function to collect money or pay a split bill between friends (find this option under your account, ‘Pay and Services,’ then ‘Money’). WeChat pay is worth noting if you plan on doing any domestic traveling, as some parts of China may prefer WeChat payment over Alipay.
If you have any other apps you’ve found useful while living here, share in our groups! To join any of our groups, scan the QR code below:
