DiDi Guide: How to Use China's Ride-Hailing App as a Foreigner

To get a DiDi (滴滴出行, Dīdī Chūxíng, China's main ride-hailing service) car as a foreigner, install the regular DiDi app, switch it to English, sign up with your home phone number, and add an international card. DiDi's store listing says the app has an English version for inbound visitors, lets you log in with a non-Chinese phone number, and translates messages between you and the driver into Chinese or English. If you already use Alipay or WeChat, you can also call a DiDi car from inside those apps, and the fare is taken from that app's wallet when the ride ends.

Which DiDi to use: the app, Alipay or WeChat

The Shanghai government's English guide to DiDi lists three ways in: download the DiDi app, open DiDi from the Services page in WeChat under "Ride Hailing" (出行, chūxíng, "getting around"), or use DiDi inside Alipay. What changes between them is the screen you look at and where the money comes from.

Our advice: book with the DiDi app. Its English interface and translated driver chat are what you need when something goes wrong at pickup. Set up the Alipay route too, as a backup for the day your card is declined.

Get the right app. "DiDi China: Ride Hailing" on Google Play is the same app Chinese riders use, so there is no separate "international version" for mainland China; on Apple's App Store in China the same app is listed as 滴滴 (DiDi) and offers Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, English and Korean. Do not install "DiDi Rider" (滴滴国际版, "DiDi international version"). DiDi describes it as an app for rides in other countries such as Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Egypt, and it is not the one for hailing cars in mainland China. On an iPhone, search the App Store for "DiDi" and check the developer name before you install: in the China store the main app comes from 滴滴出行（北京）网络平台技术有限公司 (DiDi's Beijing company), and anything called "DiDi Rider" is the wrong one.

One note on the WeChat route: if you signed up for WeChat with a foreign number, WeChat asks you to agree before you first use "Weixin Services", the WeChat features run in mainland China. If WeChat asks you to agree to "Weixin Services" the first time you open DiDi, accept and it opens. Our WeChat setup guide covers that screen.

Register and pay

Sign up with your home phone number

You do not need a Chinese SIM card to use DiDi. As of October 2026, DiDi's English version supports login with phone numbers from around the world. You type in the code DiDi sends by text message, and that text is the step that trips people up: with roaming off, your home number may not receive it in China. Register at home before you fly, or turn on roaming first.

DiDi's description only mentions a phone number, not a passport. If the app asks for more identity details, follow the screen; the in-app English customer service can help.

Switch the app to English

If the app opens in Chinese, the Shanghai government guide gives this path: 我的 (Me) → 设置 (Settings) → 通用 (General) → Language 语言 → English → confirm. If a label looks different after an update, look for "Language" or 语言 in settings.

Add a way to pay

DiDi's store listing says the app supports several payment methods, including international bank cards. The Beijing government's English site names Mastercard and Visa among the international credit cards that ride-hailing apps such as DiDi accept. For any other card brand, check the add-card screen in the app, which lists what it takes at that moment.

Add your card in the app's payment or wallet section and take one short ride early in the trip. A declined card is easier to deal with on a quiet afternoon than at a train station at night.

Paying through Alipay or WeChat Pay is the other route. When you book inside Alipay, the fare is taken from Alipay automatically, and when you book inside WeChat, it comes out of WeChat Pay. China's central bank guide for foreign visitors lists Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Diners Club and Discover as card networks you can link to Alipay; check the card screen in Alipay for the current list. Alipay also asks for your passport details before your first payment with a foreign card. Setup steps, fees and fixes for declined cards are in our guides to using Alipay with a foreign card and using WeChat Pay with a foreign card.

Make sure the app has data

DiDi needs data to book, track the car and send messages. Don't count on café or mall Wi-Fi: China's official tourism website says public Wi-Fi usually sends a login code to a Chinese phone number, and a foreign SIM can't receive it. Roaming on your home plan, a Chinese SIM, or a travel eSIM all work. If you want data running the moment you land, a travel eSIM such as Airalo can be installed at home before you fly. Our China SIM card and eSIM guide compares the options.

Book your first ride, step by step

1. Set your pickup point. The app puts a pin where your phone thinks you are. Drag it to a spot where a car can actually stop, such as the hotel entrance or a numbered gate, not a pedestrian street or the far side of a fenced main road.
2. Enter your destination. The most reliable way is to paste the Chinese name or address from your hotel booking or a map app. Check that the pin lands where you expect, because many hotels have similar names.
3. Choose a car type. Express (快车, kuàichē) is the standard private car and the one most people pick. Premier (专车, zhuānchē) is a bigger, nicer car for more money, and is worth it with lots of luggage. Taxi (出租车, chūzūchē) sends a normal metered city taxi. The names and choices on your screen depend on the city, so read the list in the app.
4. Look at the price and confirm. The app shows the price or an estimate before you confirm. Ride-hailing platforms must publish how they calculate fares and show prices clearly.
5. Wait for the driver. Once a driver accepts, the app shows where the driver is, the car model, and the licence plate number. Stay at the pin; if you walk off to find the car, you often end up on different sides of a building.
6. Check the car, then get in. Make sure the plate on the car matches the plate in the app. After you get in, confirm with the driver the last four digits of the phone number you registered with. This check has a legal basis: the platform is responsible for making sure the car and driver in the app are the same ones that actually turn up. If the plate doesn't match, don't get in. Cancel and report it in the app.
7. Ride, then get out. At the end of the trip, the fare is charged to the card or wallet you chose. You don't pay the driver directly.

Keep those four digits in a note on your phone and show them on your screen rather than saying them aloud.

Airports and big train stations

At large airports and stations, ride-hailing cars usually can't pull up at the arrivals door. They pick up in a separate ride-hailing area, often signed 网约车 (wǎngyuēchē, "online-booked car"). Two examples:

• At Harbin Taiping International Airport, the dedicated ride-hailing pickup area is on the service lane under the elevated road at Terminal 2.
• At Chengdu Tianfu International Airport, the airport's website puts ride-hailing pickup on level L1 of Parking Building 1.

Every airport is different, so follow the signs and check the pickup point the app suggests. Walk to the ride-hailing area first and book once you are standing in it, so the driver isn't waiting while you are at baggage claim. Our guide to getting from the airport to the city covers trains, taxis and late arrivals at ten major airports.

People offering a "taxi" or "DiDi" inside the arrivals hall are not your driver, who waits in the pickup area. Our article on tourist scams in China explains how unlicensed "black cab" touts work.

Talking to a driver who doesn't speak English

Most drivers don't speak English, and usually you won't need to talk: the destination is in the app and payment happens on its own. When you do, use the in-app chat. As of October 2026, DiDi translates chat messages between Chinese and English.

Short, specific messages work best:

• "I am at the north gate, next to the bank."
• "I am wearing a blue jacket, with two suitcases."
• "Please wait two minutes, I am coming."

Drivers often call when they are close. If you can't follow the call, hang up and send a message.

Keep your hotel's name and address in Chinese on your phone to show the driver where to stop. Amap (高德地图, Gāodé Dìtú) also has bilingual phrase cards for talking to drivers and hotel staff. For a translation app that works offline as a backup, see our translation apps comparison.

Safety features

Ride-hailing in China runs under national rules from the Ministry of Transport and other departments. A ride-hailing driver needs a special driver's permit, at least three years of driving experience, and no record of drunk driving or violent crime. The car needs its own operating permit and an emergency alarm device. The platform must show you the driver's name, photo, phone number (shown to you as a masked number), rating and the car's plate, and drivers may not take detours on purpose or charge more than the rules allow. The full text is on the Chinese government's website (in Chinese).

DiDi's own safety page (in Chinese, as of October 2026) describes these tools:

• Share your trip. You can send your pickup and destination, pickup time, distance, expected arrival time, plate number and the car's live position to a friend by WeChat, text message or QQ.
• Emergency help button. The page calls it the "110 alarm" (110 is China's police number). When you press it, DiDi sends a help text message with your trip details and location to every emergency contact you have set up. The text alert goes only to the emergency contacts you've set up, so add one before your first ride.
• Masked phone numbers. You and the driver see a temporary in-between number, not each other's real numbers.
• Wrong car type. If the car that turns up isn't the type you booked, you can complain in the app.

English labels may differ from the Chinese page, so check the in-trip screen of your app. DiDi also says drivers must pass a face check to confirm their identity before taking orders.

For help with a ride, the app has English online customer service around the clock, and DiDi's 24/7 passenger emergency line is +86 400 0000 999. Use the in-app English chat first; the hotline may answer in Chinese. If you are in real danger, call the police on 110 directly; it is free and needs no area code.

What a ride costs

There is no national price list for ride-hailing. Fares are set by the market, unless a city decides to set guide prices. So fares differ from city to city, and the number to go by is the one the app shows before you confirm. The platform also has to provide a taxi receipt (发票, fāpiào, an official invoice), which is useful if you claim travel costs back from work.

If you can't get a DiDi

A regular street taxi is the easiest backup. Taxi drivers must use the meter, can't bargain over the fare or take detours, and if the driver won't use the meter you have the right to refuse to pay. Don't argue on the spot, though: note the plate, keep the receipt, and complain afterwards on 12328, the national transport service hotline. If DiDi is slow at a busy time, Amap can send one request to many ride-hailing platforms at once, and its multilingual version lets foreign visitors book in English and see the pickup point and estimated fare. Our map apps guide explains how to set that up, and taxis and ride-hailing in China compares all the options. For everything else to install before you go, see must-have apps for China.

The short version: at home, install DiDi, switch it to English, register with your own number, add your card and set up Alipay as a backup. In China, keep data on, book from the right pickup point, check the plate and the four digits, and add an emergency contact before your first ride.

Last updated: October 2026