Getting Around Chinese Cities: Metro, Taxi, DiDi, Bus and Bike

In a big Chinese city, take the metro by default. It is cheap, it never sits in traffic, and station signs are in English as well as Chinese. Switch to a taxi or DiDi (滴滴, Dīdī, China's main ride-hailing app) when you want door-to-door, when you have luggage, or when the metro has stopped for the night. Use buses and shared bikes for the short gaps the metro doesn't cover. Almost all of this runs through your phone, so before you land, set up Alipay or WeChat Pay with your own bank card, install a map app and make sure you will have mobile data.

This page is about getting around inside a city. For travel between cities by train, plane, bus or ferry, see our transportation overview.

The short answer: how to get around a Chinese city

Here is how the five options compare for a visitor. The prices are examples from named cities, so you can see the order of magnitude; every city sets its own fares.

How we would choose:

• Going across town in the daytime: metro. A taxi in rush-hour traffic often takes longer and costs several times more.
• With big suitcases, small children or tired legs: taxi or DiDi. Metro stations have long walks, stairs and security checks.
• After about 11 pm: taxi or DiDi. Many metro lines are finishing their last runs by then.
• When you can't say where you're going: DiDi, because you drop a pin on a map and the driver sees it in Chinese.
• For one or two stops, or along a river or lake: walk, take a bus or ride a shared bike.

Check the local rules near big sights, because they can change the answer. In Hangzhou, for example, on weekends and public holidays taxis and ride-hailing cars may not drive into the Lingyin Temple area in the daytime (08:00–17:00), and passengers are sent to transfer to shuttle buses instead. On those days, the metro plus a shuttle bus or a walk is simpler than a taxi for a West Lake visit.

Set up payment and apps before you arrive

This is the step that makes everything else easy. Do it at home on Wi-Fi, a few days before you fly, so you can fix a declined card at home rather than at a metro gate.

1. Alipay or WeChat Pay, linked to your own card

Alipay (支付宝, Zhīfùbǎo) and WeChat Pay (微信支付, Wēixìn Zhīfù) both accept foreign cards. In Alipay you register with your phone number, add your bank card, and submit your passport details when the app asks, before your first payment. Both take Visa and Mastercard; if your only card is American Express, use WeChat Pay, because China's central bank lists Amex for WeChat Pay but not for Alipay. For WeChat Pay you can verify with a passport, and you don't need a mainland Chinese phone number.

Set up at least one; most visitors find it worth having both, so a declined card in one app isn't the end of the road. Step-by-step help is in our guides to using Alipay with a foreign card and using WeChat Pay with a foreign card. If you want the bigger picture first, read how Chinese payment systems work.

2. A transit QR code for each city

A transit QR code (乘车码, chéngchē mǎ, "ride code") is the barcode you hold over the reader at the metro gate or on the bus. It charges the card you linked to the app. Beijing's English government guide gives the Alipay route for the metro: once your account is verified and has a payment method, go to Transport → Metro → Get now on the Alipay home screen, then scan the same code going in and coming out. Hangzhou's tourism bureau describes the same Alipay route for buses and the metro in Hangzhou and five other Zhejiang cities. The code belongs to one city, so when you arrive in a new city, open the Transport page again and pick that city.

If WeChat is your only wallet, it still works, with one extra step. In Beijing, WeChat Pay's own built-in ride code is not on the metro's accepted list, so inside WeChat you open the City Pass (城市通, Chéngshì Tōng) mini program or DiDi's mini program and use the code there. For transit, Alipay's route is the simpler one, which is another reason to set up both apps.

3. Know where you can just tap your card

In a few cities you can skip the QR code and tap a contactless foreign card on the metro gate, the way you would in London or Singapore. China's Ministry of Commerce payment guide for visitors, reproduced on the Hunan government's English site, lists Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu as the metro networks where a foreign card works at the gate. Shenzhen joined them on 10 September 2026, with every gate taking UnionPay, Visa, Mastercard, American Express and JCB. Everywhere else, plan on the QR code; our metro systems guide has the gate rules city by city.

4. Some cash, in small notes

Cash is still legal tender in China and businesses may not refuse it. You won't use it much, but it is your backup when your phone battery dies. Carry small notes and a few coins: on Beijing's buses, for example, you pay cash by the distance and the driver gives no change. Our guide to whether you need cash in China covers how much to bring and where to get it.

5. Mobile data from the moment you land

QR codes, DiDi and map apps all need a data connection on the street. China's official tourism site, Travel China, suggests short-stay visitors buy a regional eSIM that covers China before they enter and switch it on after arrival. If you want that sorted before you fly, Airalo sells China data plans you can install at home. Our China SIM card and eSIM guide compares this with buying a local SIM at the airport.

Metro: your default

If a city has a metro, use it for most trips. Fares go by distance and start at a few yuan: in Guangzhou the first 4 km cost 2 yuan and the longest possible ride costs 20 yuan. Beijing starts at 3 yuan for the first 6 km, and you can change lines inside the station without paying again.

The trains stop at night, and there is no single closing time. Beijing's English government site says the metro runs roughly 05:00 to 23:00, with each line and station a little different. In Chengdu most lines leave their first stop for the last time between 22:30 and 23:30. If you are heading back late, look up your own line before you go out. We keep last-train timetables for Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Xi'an, Nanjing and Wuhan.

Expect a bag check at the station entrance. In Beijing, for example, you must go through security to enter, and the rules limit what you carry to 30 kg and 1.8 m long. It usually takes under a minute; big suitcases are where it gets slow. If you have large bags, read our luggage rules guide or take a taxi from the train station.

For planning, the WaysChina app has offline metro maps and route planning for Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Xi'an, Nanjing and Wuhan, plus a day-by-day trip planner. It works without signal underground, but it is a planning helper, not live navigation.

How to pay at the gate in each of those cities, fare rules city by city, and free rides for children are all in our metro systems guide.

Taxis

Street taxis are metered, easy to find in city centres, and you don't need an app or a phone number to use one. Flag fall is 13 yuan for the first 3 km in Beijing, 14 yuan for the first 3 km in Shanghai, 12 yuan (base fare) for the first 3 km in Guangzhou, and 8.5 yuan for the first 3 km in Xi'an in the daytime. Late at night it costs more: in Shanghai, the flag fall and the per-kilometre rate go up 30% between 23:00 and 05:00.

The meter is the price. Shanghai's taxi service rules tell drivers to charge what the meter shows and give you a receipt or tell you how to get an e-receipt; refusing passengers, taking long routes and bargaining over the fare are all banned. If a driver wants a fixed price instead of the meter, take the next car. Keep the receipt, because it is how you find a phone or bag you left behind.

Paying: in Shanghai every taxi takes cash and the Shanghai transit card, and about 2,000 cars from the Dazhong company also take foreign Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Diners Club, American Express and UnionPay cards. So even there, most cabs won't take your card. In our experience, most drivers in big cities accept Alipay or WeChat Pay by QR code, but carry some cash in case.

Two practical points. Most drivers don't speak English, so have your destination ready in Chinese characters, for example a screenshot of your hotel's address. And don't wave for a cab right at a junction: in Shanghai, drivers are not allowed to stop for passengers within 50 metres of an intersection. At airports and big railway stations, follow the signs to the official taxi queue and ignore anyone offering you a ride inside the terminal. Our airport transfer guide covers the first ride from each major airport.

Fares in more cities, airport and station taxi ranks and how to avoid common taxi scams are in our guide to taxis and ride-hailing in China.

Ride-hailing with DiDi

DiDi works like Uber, and it is the easiest way to get a car if you don't speak Chinese. Use the regular DiDi app: its store listing says it has an English version for inbound visitors, lets you sign up with a foreign phone number and translates chat messages between you and the driver. It also takes international bank cards and has 24/7 English support inside the app. Don't install "DiDi Rider", which is DiDi's app for other countries, not for mainland China. If you already use Alipay or WeChat, you can book DiDi inside either one and the fare comes out of that wallet.

You see the car, the driver and the price before you get in, which is the main reason visitors prefer it to flagging a taxi. For safety, the app can share your trip, including the car's plate and live location, with friends by text or WeChat, and pressing its 110 (police) alarm button sends a text with your trip details and location to the emergency contacts saved in the app. Those texts only go to contacts you have added, so add one before your first ride. Amap's English version can also call cars from several ride-hailing platforms at once, with pickup points and estimated fares shown in English.

Signing up, adding a card, finding your car at a busy pickup point and what to do when it goes wrong are covered in our DiDi guide.

City buses

Buses are the cheapest way to get around and reach places the metro doesn't. Fares are low: Shanghai's regular city routes are 2 yuan, and in Guangzhou a daytime route costs 2 or 3 yuan depending on how long the whole route is. Some cities charge by distance. In Beijing, the first 10 km cost 2 yuan and you tap or scan both when you get on and when you get off.

You usually pay with the same transit QR code you use on the metro. Chengdu goes further: since 28 July 2025 its city buses take Visa, Mastercard and American Express cards tapped straight on the reader. In Shenzhen you can use a transit card, a QR code or cash, but buses without a conductor don't give change.

The hard part is knowing where to get off. English help is getting better in some cities: all of Beijing's bus routes announce stops in Chinese and English, and in Shenzhen all 13,600 buses have Chinese-English announcements and you can scan the QR code on a bus-stop sign for an English route map and live arrivals. Elsewhere, follow your ride on a map app and get ready one stop early. How to read routes and pay on board is in our public buses guide.

Shared bikes

Shared bikes are parked on pavements all over Chinese cities, and they are the quickest way to cover the last kilometre from a metro station. In Shanghai the three big brands are Hellobike (blue), Meituan Bike (yellow) and Qingju (green). You rent Hellobike through its own app or through Alipay, Meituan through the Meituan app, and Qingju through the DiDi or Qingju app.

For most visitors the simplest route is Hellobike inside Alipay, because your foreign card is already linked there. Shanghai's English government guide to renting a shared bike describes the steps: open the Hellobike mini program in Alipay, register, add a payment method and switch on the service as prompted, tap "Bike" to see nearby bikes, then scan the code on the bike to unlock it. The current guide does not list a deposit.

For Meituan Bike, Beijing's English government guide says to download the Meituan app, log in with your phone number (you can pick your country code) and a text-message code, scan the code on the bike, and lock the bike when you finish, because the ride keeps charging until you do. That guide puts Meituan's price at 1.5 yuan per 30 minutes, but platform prices change, so check the rate on the unlock screen.

Some apps ask you to verify your identity before the first ride, and whether a foreign passport goes through depends on the platform at the time. Try it on your first day, near your hotel, rather than when you need to be somewhere. Park in the marked bike areas near stations and crossings, and don't ride on pavements full of people. Not every road is open to bikes. On Hangzhou's West Lake, for example, the Su and Bai causeways are closed to all bikes at all hours, including shared ones, and the scenic area does not allow rental e-bikes, so any shared e-bikes you see there have been left illegally.

Which map app to use

In our experience Google Maps is not dependable for getting around mainland Chinese cities, so use one of the options below and keep Google for home.

• Apple Maps (iPhone): Apple's own feature availability page lists mainland China for turn-by-turn navigation, live traffic and public transport directions. Apple says offline maps are only offered in some regions and does not say whether mainland China is one of them, so don't count on offline Apple Maps there.
• Amap (高德地图, Gāodé Dìtú): the map most Chinese people use. Its English version launched in 2025, and more languages were added later that year. For visitors it also has phrase cards to show drivers and hotel staff, and the main features work without logging in. Release notes on Amap's Chinese App Store page say metro, cycling and walking directions now work without a network connection; check that this works in the English version on your phone before you rely on it.
• Baidu Maps (百度地图, Bǎidù Dìtú): the App Store lists Simplified Chinese and English for it, but Amap is easier to start with if you don't read Chinese.
• In Beijing: the city government publishes an official English map online, with layers for things like currency exchange, transport-card service points and phone-card shops.

Our pick: on an iPhone, Apple Maps for walking and public transport, plus Amap for taxis and for searching places by their Chinese name. On Android, Amap. Our map apps guide compares them in more detail.

FAQ

Before you fly: link your card to Alipay or WeChat Pay, sort out mobile data, and install DiDi and a map app. After you land: take the metro for most trips, a taxi or DiDi for door-to-door and late nights, and a bus or shared bike for short hops. Then go to the full guide for whichever one you will use most: metro, taxis, DiDi or buses.

Last updated: October 2026