Tech for Everyday Life in China

Living in China is almost impossible without modern technology. Every day, we rely heavily on these technologies to live our daily lives to the fullest extent. All things said, here are some gadgets and apps that are essential to living in China.

Power Bank

This is the key to all your electronics. Whenever they are out of charge, you can plug them in, and juice them up. There are many different Power Banks available to us in China; I personally bought one at MiniSo for about 70RMB. It provides enough charge for all of my Electronic Devices, but there are other power banks available.

Phone

It might seem obvious, but a phone is a necessity for life in China. From WeChat pay to renting bicycles, a phone can majorly impact your life. WeChat pay allows you to pay for a variety of things, ranging from online items to items in a retail store. All you need to do to pay for something is connect your bank account to your WeChat account and scan the QR code that is conveniently provided by the seller.

VPN

Our first app on this list is a Virtual Private Network (VPN). It allows access to websites and apps that are banned inside China. An example of this is Snapchat. Because Snapchat is blocked in China, you need a VPN to get over the firewall that China has put up. Some other apps and websites that you can unlock with VPN are Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Gmail, and Tumblr.

MeiTuan(美团)

MeiTuan is a food ordering platform that caters food to your doorstep. It includes many fast foods such as McDonald’s, KFC, and Burger King. However, there are also high-quality food companies, an example of this would be 渔民新村, a top class Chinese restaurant. I personally use MeiTuan, and I personally think that is very convenient and tasty.

TaoBao

TaoBao is like the Chinese version of eBay or Amazon. It allows users to buy items such as shoes and clothes online. The advantages of TaoBao over Amazon and eBay is that most products sold on Taobao are from China, meaning that the shipping is cheap and fast.

Conclusion

These 5 technologies are crucial to living in China. From ordering food to “climbing” the great firewall of China, these apps and technologies can majorly affect your life.