The moments where a non-Chinese speaker is helpless are the moments this product earns its fee. Each step below carries the exact Chinese text you need — copy it, paste it into WeChat, or screenshot it and show your phone. The native apps (Alipay, DiDi, Meituan) handle the transaction; this guide makes the interaction possible.
Arrival (days 0–3)
Get a DiDi to your apartment
TransitAll cities
Your first task after landing. DiDi (China's Uber) works in English, but drivers rarely speak English. The fix: have your destination in Chinese, ready to paste.
Show script
Destination address
请送我到这个地址
Please take me to this address
Paste into DiDi as your destination, or show to a taxi driver.
Can't find the building
我到了附近，但找不到具体位置，能打个电话给我的房东吗？
I'm nearby but can't find the exact location. Can you call my landlord?
Show to the driver if they're circling.
AppDiDiOpen DiDi, paste the zh address into the destination field
Tips
DiDi has an English interface inside Alipay (search 'DiDi' in the Alipay app) — often more reliable than the standalone app for foreigners
Airport taxi touts will quote ¥200-400 for a ride that costs ¥60-80 on DiDi. Always use the app.
Screenshot your destination in Chinese before you lose Wi-Fi at the airport.
Register at the police station (within 24 hours)
VisaAll cities
Mandatory for private rentals — hotels do it automatically. This is not optional, and it's the step most likely to go wrong if you can't communicate.
Show script
At the window
我要办理境外人员住宿登记
I need to register a foreigner's residential address
Say this at the police station window. Hand over your passport and the landlord's ID copy.
Landlord doesn't know what to do
派出所需要登记我的住宿信息。请您带上身份证和房产证复印件，跟我一起去派出所。
The police station needs to register my residence. Please bring your ID card and a copy of the property ownership certificate, and go with me to the station.
Send this to your landlord via WeChat if they're confused about the requirement.
Tips
Bring: passport + visa + entry stamp page, landlord's ID copy, rental agreement, one passport photo
The registration slip is a small piece of paper — photograph it immediately. You'll need it for the PSB extension.
In Kunming, the Wuhua district station (五华区派出所) processes foreigners regularly. Ask us which station serves your district.
Sign the apartment lease (押一付三)
HousingAll cities
The lease structure is your budget autopilot: one month deposit + three months rent, prepaid. The landlord needs to agree to two things beyond price: foreign tenant registration and the 90-day term.
Show script
Confirming the deposit terms
押一付三，对吗？押金在退房时退还？
One month deposit plus three months rent, correct? The deposit is refunded when I move out?
Confirm verbally before signing. The deposit is refundable minus any damage costs.
Confirming registration cooperation
我是外国人，需要在派出所登记住宿。请您配合提供身份证复印件和房产证复印件。
I'm a foreigner and need to register at the police station. Please cooperate by providing a copy of your ID and the property ownership certificate.
Send to the landlord before signing. If they refuse, this is not the right apartment.
Tips
押一付三 is standard in China — if a landlord asks for 6 months or a year upfront, that's unusual for this market and we should review the listing
Photograph every room and any existing damage before moving in. Send the photos to yourself (timestamped) — this is your deposit protection.
Utilities (water, electricity, gas) are usually not included and are paid via Alipay or WeChat. Ask the landlord to show you the payment setup.
Link your US card to Alipay
PaymentAll cities
This is the single most important setup step. Once your foreign Visa/Mastercard is linked, you can pay for everything in China. Do it before you leave the airport.
AppAlipayAlipay → Me → Bank Cards → Add Card
Tips
Install Alipay before you fly. Set language to English (Profile → Settings → General → Language).
Link a Visa or Mastercard (Discover and JCB also work). Amex does not.
There's a 3% fee on foreign card transactions — waived for the first 90 days for new users (APEC 2026 policy). Your stay fits exactly in the waiver window.
You cannot send money to individuals (P2P) with a foreign card — only pay merchants. For rent transfers to landlords, use the 'Transfer to Bank Account' function.
Set up your translation stack (the one that works in China)
CommunicationAll cities
The language barrier is a solved problem in 2026 — if you carry the right tools. The catch: the famous ones don't work here. Google Translate's servers are blocked, AirPods Live Translation is disabled in mainland China, and Vasco's $400 translators can't connect at all. The stack that does work is mostly free and mostly already on your phone.
Show script
Ask them to speak into your phone
我听不懂中文。请对着我的手机说话，它会翻译。
I don't understand Chinese. Please speak into my phone — it will translate.
Show this, then open Apple Translate or Microsoft Translator in conversation mode.
Move the conversation to WeChat
可以加个微信吗？您打字，我可以翻译。
Can we add each other on WeChat? If you type, I can translate it.
For anything complicated — landlords, repairs, deliveries. Long-press any WeChat message → Translate.
Tips
WeChat is your everyday translator: long-press any message → Translate. Since late 2024 it also translates mini-programs — including the QR-code menus you order from at the table.
For face-to-face: Apple Translate (works in China, no VPN, camera mode since iOS 17) or Microsoft Translator (split-screen conversation mode — you each read your own language). Also not blocked.
For menus and signs: Baidu Translate's camera beats the Western apps on handwriting, regional dish names, and dim restaurant lighting.
Google Translate's online service is blocked. Download the English + Simplified Chinese offline packs before you fly — camera and text translation still work offline; voice doesn't.
Don't buy: Vasco translators (mainland China blocks their eSIM — explicitly unsupported) or AirPods Live Translation (region-disabled in the mainland despite supporting Mandarin). The travel blogs recommending them haven't tested them here.
Skip the dedicated translator gadgets entirely — the reliable ones cost $400+, the cheap ones are worse than your phone, and the mid-range ones have flaky connectivity. For the gap between landing and your local SIM: your offline packs handle camera and text with zero data, and every script on this page works as a screenshot. Open this guide once on Wi-Fi before you fly — it saves for offline use.
Navigate with maps that actually work here
TransitAll cities
Google Maps is broken in mainland China even with a VPN — Chinese regulations keep foreign map providers' data stale and GPS coordinates offset by hundreds of meters. The working stack: Apple Maps switches to English Amap data automatically the moment you're in China; Android users install Amap, fully English since 2025. Both free, neither needs a VPN.
Show script
Ask a passerby for directions
您好，请问这个地方怎么走？
Hello — how do I get to this place?
Show this with your map open to the destination. Pointing at the screen does most of the work.
AppApple Maps / AmapSave your apartment as a favorite on day one — it's your way home from anywhere
Tips
Search works best in Chinese. Every address and restaurant in our guides carries the Chinese text — copy it straight into the map.
Kunming metro and bus routing work well in Apple Maps. Ride the metro with the transit QR inside Alipay (search 乘车码).
Day-one favorites: your apartment, the police station where you registered, the vetted hospital, and the PSB Exit-Entry office.
Don't navigate with Google Maps even when your VPN is up — it will confidently walk you to the wrong block.
The ground-rules briefing (read once, relax for 90 days)
VisaAll cities
China is one of the safest countries you will ever walk around in — and one of the least forgiving on a few specific rules. None of them are hard to follow. All of them are things the travel blogs undersell.
Show script
If police ask for your documents
这是我的护照和住宿登记条。
Here is my passport and my residence registration slip.
Stay calm and hand them over. Spot checks are routine, and a registered, documented visitor is exactly what the system wants to see.
Tips
Carry your passport. China runs on real-name ID — trains, hotels, some attractions, SIM cards, and occasional police checks all want it. Keep photos of the data page and registration slip in your phone as backup.
Drugs are a different universe here. Zero tolerance, and the 2026-revised public security law allows random urine and hair tests in bar raids and at the border. Tests reach back weeks to months — cannabis that was legal at home still counts, and CBD and hemp products are illegal too. If you partake, stop well before you fly.
Don't photograph military sites, government buildings, or police at work. Leave the drone at home unless you've done the registration homework.
Keep politics off Chinese platforms. Nothing you write on WeChat is private. Say what you like inside your VPN'd apps; don't say it in a WeChat group.
Emergency numbers: 110 police, 120 ambulance, 119 fire. For anything confusing but not urgent, message us first — that's what we're for.
The actual danger, statistically: silent electric scooters, on the sidewalk, from behind. Street crime is near zero; look both ways anyway — including on the sidewalk.
Prepare for a lost or dead phone (it's your wallet now)
PaymentAll cities
Your phone is your wallet, translator, map, and taxi in one device — which makes it your single point of failure. Ten minutes of preparation in week one turns a lost phone from a crisis into an errand.
Show script
Borrow a phone
不好意思，我的手机丢了。能借用您的手机打个电话吗？
Excuse me — I've lost my phone. Could I borrow yours to make a call?
Shopkeepers and hotel front desks are the reliable choice.
Report a theft at the police station
我要报案，我的手机被偷了。
I want to file a report — my phone was stolen.
You'll want the report for insurance. Bring your passport.
Tips
Keep a cash floor: ¥300–500 in the apartment, a note or two in your wallet. Refusing cash is illegal in China (the central bank enforces it) — cash always works, even in a cashless city.
Alipay outlives your phone: log in on a replacement or borrowed device with your phone number and face verification. Balance and linked cards live on the account, not the handset.
Keep paper: a card in your wallet with your apartment address in Chinese, plus photocopies of your passport data page and registration slip stored separately from the phone.
Phones are cheap here: a serviceable Android replacement is ¥700–1,000 same-day at any mall, and your local SIM moves straight into it.
Write our support number on that card too. A borrowed phone plus that number reboots everything else.
Keep the lights on: utilities through Alipay
HousingAll cities
Utilities in a Chinese rental are app-paid or prepaid — there's no monthly bill in the mail. Some meters simply stop when the balance hits zero, usually at night. Two minutes of setup on move-in day prevents a dark, cold-shower surprise in week three.
Show script
Get the account numbers from your landlord
请问电费、水费、燃气费的户号是多少？在哪里交费？
What are the account numbers for electricity, water, and gas? Where do I pay them?
Send on move-in day and screenshot the reply — the numbers go into Alipay once and save forever.
Check for inherited debt
上一位租客的水电燃气费都结清了吗？
Has the previous tenant settled all the utility bills?
Ask before signing. Unpaid balances follow the meter, not the tenant.
AppAlipayAlipay → search 生活缴费 (utility payments) → pick 电费/水费/燃气费 → enter the account number once
Tips
Some buildings use prepaid meters instead of billed accounts — you top up first, then use. If the power dies and the breaker looks fine, the balance is empty: top up in the same Alipay flow and it's back in minutes.
Utilities are small money in Kunming's climate — roughly ¥150–300/month total for one person, no AC season, no heating bills.
The account stays in the landlord's name and that's normal for rentals — you pay, nothing gets transferred, nothing to cancel when you leave.
Home internet is separate: usually already installed and prepaid by the landlord, or a ~¥100/month telecom plan that needs a passport at the shop — we handle it during setup week.
Settled (days 4–44)
File the +30-day visa extension (day 45–50)
VisaAll cities
The biggest operational step in the product. You must file at least 7 days before your original stay expires; we aim earlier, after your registration, itinerary, and exit route are clean.
Show script
At the counter
我要申请签证延期，我是美国公民。
I want to apply for a visa extension. I'm a US citizen.
Say this at the Exit-Entry Administration counter.
Explaining your stay purpose
我在中国旅游，想多待一个月看看云南。
I'm traveling in China and would like to stay one more month to see Yunnan.
If asked why you're extending. Tourism is the correct and legal answer. Do not mention work.
Fee payment
费用是多少？可以用微信支付吗？
How much is the fee? Can I pay with WeChat Pay?
The fee for US citizens is ~¥760. WeChat Pay or Alipay accepted.
Tips
Bring: passport, registration slip (from police registration), itinerary or onward travel proof, one passport photo, cash or WeChat Pay for ¥760
Decision takes up to 7 working days. File early — don't wait until day 58.
If the PSB rejects (rare for clean applications), the border hop is your backup. Message us immediately.
Go to the hospital international department
MedicalAll cities
For checkups, dental, or emergencies. Major hospitals have an international department (国际部) with English-speaking staff — but you still need to get to the right window.
Show script
To a taxi or DiDi driver
请送我到第一人民医院国际部
Please take me to the First People's Hospital, International Department
Replace the hospital name with the one we've vetted for your city.
At reception
我想挂国际部的号。我需要看[科室]。
I'd like to register at the International Department. I need to see [department].
Fill in the department: 内科 (internal medicine), 口腔科 (dental), 眼科 (ophthalmology).
Emergency
请帮我叫救护车，我需要去急诊。
Please call an ambulance for me, I need to go to the emergency room.
Show to anyone nearby. For our emergency support line, message us on WhatsApp/Signal first.
Tips
The international department costs more than the regular one but eliminates the language barrier entirely — worth it every time
Bring your passport and insurance card. Pay upfront, claim later.
For prescription refills from home: bring the original prescription and the medication bottle with the generic name. Chinese pharmacies stock most generics.
Order food delivery on Meituan (in Chinese)
CommunicationAll cities
Meituan has no English interface and no API — but it's how locals eat cheaply. Your food guide entries include the zh search term for each blessed restaurant. Here's how to use it.
Show script
Delivery address (save this)
请送到[你的地址]
Please deliver to [your address]
Save your address in Chinese in your phone notes. Paste it into Meituan's address field.
Delivery instructions for the rider
请放在门口，谢谢。
Please leave it at the door, thank you.
Meituan riders almost always call. If you can't answer, they'll see this note.
AppMeituanOpen Meituan, paste the zh restaurant name from your food guide into the search bar
Tips
Use the Meituan mini-program inside WeChat (search '美团' in WeChat) — WeChat's built-in screenshot translation works on it.
Delivery is incredibly cheap (¥3-6 delivery fee) and fast (20-30 min). This is how you eat for ¥15-25 per meal.
The search term for each blessed restaurant is on the food guide page — just copy it and paste into Meituan.
Pick up packages: the locker and the corner station
CommunicationAll cities
Taobao and JD deliveries rarely come to your door. They land in a Fengchao (丰巢) smart locker in your compound or at the staffed Cainiao station (菜鸟驿站) by the gate, and a pickup code arrives by SMS on your local number. Once you know the pattern it beats doorstep delivery — nothing sits in the rain, nothing gets stolen, lockers are 24/7.
Show script
At the pickup station
你好，我来取快递，取件码是[码]。
Hi, I'm here to collect a package — the pickup code is [code].
Or just show the SMS. Staff scan the code and hand it over.
Package missing or code not working
我找不到我的快递，能帮我查一下吗？这是短信。
I can't find my package — could you help me check? Here's the text message.
Show your phone at the station. The tracking number in the SMS is all they need.
AppTaobaoTrack packages in the Taobao app; the pickup code (取件码) arrives by SMS
Tips
The pickup-code SMS goes to your local SIM — one more reason that number matters. Check texts daily once you start ordering.
Fengchao lockers are free for the first 18 hours, then a token fee. Don't let packages sit for days.
Your delivery address should be the compound name + building in Chinese — couriers navigate by compound, not street numbers. Copy the exact text from your setup sheet.
Returns run in reverse and they're easy: Taobao arranges a courier to your door or a drop-off at the same station, refunds land back on the linked card.
Your first Saturday: find your people
CommunicationAll cities
The anchor routine keeps you sane; people keep you happy. Kunming has a real, decades-old expat scene plus one of China's biggest university populations — but none of it comes to you. One Saturday of showing up starts the compounding.
Show script
The magic sentence
我刚搬到昆明，能拉我进你们的微信群吗？
I just moved to Kunming — could you add me to your WeChat group?
Say it to anyone friendly — gym, café, climbing wall, language exchange. Life here runs on WeChat groups, every scene has one, and each invite chains to the next.
Tips
GoKunming is the city's long-running English-language hub — events calendar, forums, classifieds. Skim it before you even land.
Language exchange is the highest-yield social move you have: native English is in demand, and one post on GoKunming's classifieds fills your week with coffee meetups.
The density centers are Green Lake (翠湖) and the university district around Wenlin Jie — cafés, bars, and the international crowd. Morning tai chi in Green Lake Park is a standing open invitation.
Hiking, climbing, and cycling groups all live in WeChat groups. We hand you the current group list for your cohort at landing — ask us for intros; that's part of the service.
Loneliness, not money, is the usual failure mode of a solo quarter. Front-load the social effort in weeks one and two, before the novelty wears off.
Scripts verified by our ground team. If a phrase doesn't get the expected response, message us immediately — we update these in real time.