Given that the Chinese government actively promotes tourism, the number of hoops a foreigner has to jump through to pay for things where cash isn't accepted is quite ridiculous.
> Given that the Chinese government actively promotes tourism, the number of hoops a foreigner has to jump through to pay for things where cash isn't accepted is quite ridiculous.
Setting up WeChat pay is a pretty minor problem as far as tourism is concerned. Aside from the fact that almost everyone does take cash (at least 3 months ago in Shanghai), it's only difficult if you don't know someone with RMB willing to do currency exchange.
The big problems all tourists face are directly due to government policies:
* Painful to get initial entry visa, especially if you don't live near a consulate.
* Setting up a VPN so you can even access basic services like your email.
Many countries (Uk anyway) can get 6 days transit without a visa if you head to a 3rd country. I flew to Beijing on short notice a couple of months ago, got a flight Glasgow-London-Beijing (5 days) - seoul - London
There are limitations (no leaving city of arrival), but it’s a useful last minute thing. You could do a tourist visit to Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and back home without a visa.
For VPN, speedify worked well.
I did pay cash in one place (near the diplomatic sector of Beijing), but got such a funny look I didn’t try again. Hotel took Amex.
Businesses can accept foreigner credit cards. But why would they, when foreigners are a tiny proportion of the population, and taking such cards probably costs them a fortune?
Someone just told me that the Shanghai hotel I stayed in for several days last week costs foreigners double the Chinese rate. Undoubtedly, part of that rate includes various taxes, and takes the payment margin into account.
Businesses can accept foreigner credit cards. But why would they, when foreigners are a tiny proportion of the population, and taking such cards probably costs them a fortune?
This is true for every other country in the world, yet somehow it's done. China is the exception.
Someone just told me that the Shanghai hotel I stayed in for several days last week costs foreigners double the Chinese rate. Undoubtedly, part of that rate includes various taxes, and takes the payment margin into account.
No, that's just a thing that happens. It's not unique to China, or even this point in time. I've been to lots of places in the world where I've gotten the "tourist" menu at a restaurant, which has higher prices.
I totally accept your point about tourist vs. local prices.
But when it comes to credit cards, China is truly different: They don't have Visa or MasterCard (or AmEx) in the country. They do have Union Pay, which is a special, China-only credit card.
So businesses do often take credit cards. They just don't take non-Chinese credit cards.
In this sense, they are different from other countries I've visited.
They do have Union Pay, which is a special, China-only credit card.
Not China-only. Union Pay is widely accepted in the United States, and probably every other country. Even small gas stations in the middle of nowhere take Union Pay.
I was SOL a couple of times visiting India and Netherlands, which I scarily found did not take UnionPay cards period! Always bring plenty of backup cash (USD, not RMB) and a credit card or two, especially if you are using Chinese ATM cards.
India kind of makes sense, but the Netherlands? Seriously? I hope things are different now.
Many places in NL only accept Maestro and Visa Electron cards (pin payment cards, as they call them), and won't take any other regular major debit/credit cards. Including UnionPay.
Well, to be pedantic, they do have Visa and Mastercard credit cards. Otherwise, it'd be really hard for their citizens to experience the world as tourists. But due to capital outflow restrictions, these credit cards are a bit limited.
UnionPay is more like Access or Plus or Maestro (atm networks) than VISA or MasterCard. UnionPay is pretty ubiquitous at bigger shops in China, but not at the small mom/pop store selling veggies downstairs.
Visa and MasterCard operate in China. Before 2016, dual branded visa/MC/Amex/UnionPay cards were pretty common (I had a couple). Then the government made that illegal for some reason. Lots of places do accept credit cards (eg starbuxks, hotels, fancy restaurants, ...).
They do have Visa/MasterCard (and at some fancy places, AmEx). I was just in Shanghai in October and used both a Visa and a MasterCard at multiple establishments.
The difference is that the domestic population of China is large enough to provide plenty of economic activity such that foreign tourists actually don't really move the needle. If you were operating a business, what would you do in that situation? There's not a lot of economic incentive to provide service to foreign tourists.
that sounds like a scam. i have not experienced that anywhere yet. there are hotels that don't accept foreigners. but any place that charges a foreigner more than a local for the same service is very dubious.
Access to Visa & MasterCard isn't what I'd call easy and convenient.
Previously, my perception was that WeChat Pay isn't available for me because WeChat isn't allowed to operate payment services in Europe, thus tries to keep me outside the system.
However, things could be easier since it's prepaid.
Foreign credit cards are almost never accepted in China. I've sometimes been able to use my non-Chinese Visa card in supermarkets, although even that has been rare and tedious. And hotels all take foreign credit cards, but that's clearly because so many foreigners want to use them to pay.
It's quite possible that WeChat is trying to avoid being regulated by non-Chinese authorities, and thus keeps foreigners out. They certainly (I'm guessing) don't want to have to deal with banking and privacy rules in other countries. So as you say, by keeping it restricted to prepaid usage, everyone wins.
The only thing I don't understand here is why they don't make it easier, more obvious, or more accessible to foreigners. The workarounds I describe have made my visits to China far easier over the last six months, and I hope that others will benefit, too!
