On the ground
Taxis and DiDi
The full guide and its references are available below.
Set up DiDi with your own phone number and card, book a car from inside Alipay, and take a street taxi without a word of Chinese.
Three ways to get a car
Ride-hailing works for visitors in every big Chinese city. DiDi (滴滴出行) is the big platform. You can use it through its own app or from inside Alipay, and a street taxi is always the fallback. Any of the three will get you where you are going; what differs is the setup.
Amap (高德地图), the map app, also books rides from its English version, but when it launched it only took mainland, Hong Kong and Macau phone numbers, so for most visitors DiDi or Alipay is simpler.
Foreign number and card
Nothing more once Alipay works
Set the app to English
In the English Alipay interface
Visa, Mastercard and others
The card linked to Alipay
Short hops and taxi ranks
Book from Alipay
If you have already set up Alipay (Paying in China covers it), you have a ride-hailing app. Nothing else to install, and the fare comes off the card you linked.
Open Alipay and tap Transport, then Taxi.
Enter where you are going. English place names often resolve; the Chinese name resolves every time.
Check the pickup point on the map. Move the pin to a spot a car can actually stop at, such as a hotel entrance or a side street, not the middle of a flyover.
Choose a car type and confirm. The app shows the plate number of the car coming for you.
Check the plate before you get in, then ride. You pay in the app at the end.
Set up the DiDi app
The DiDi app with the Chinese name 滴滴出行 is the one to install; in some app stores it is listed as DiDi-Greater China. The separate DiDi Rider app is for DiDi’s services outside mainland China.
Install DiDi and switch the language to English in the settings.
Register with your own mobile number. Foreign numbers are accepted; keep your home SIM or eSIM able to receive the verification text.
Add a Visa or Mastercard as the payment method. If your bank blocks the first charge, approve it in your banking app or call them.
Book the same way as in Alipay: destination, pickup point, car type.
Messages you send the driver in the app are translated for them, and theirs for you. Drivers sometimes call when they are close. If you do not speak Chinese, let it ring out and send a message instead, or type something short like “I’m at the main entrance” and let the translation do the work.
Street taxis
Street taxis are metered, and in most cities honest. Flag one down where there is room to stop, or join the queue at a station or airport taxi rank. Many display a QR code you can pay with Alipay or WeChat Pay; carry some cash in case.
Fares are set by each city. Beijing’s, as an example of what to expect:
Night, 23:00–05:00+20% per km
Fuel surcharge¥1 a ride
Tolls on the route are added on top, and the per-kilometre rate goes up by half after 15 km on a one-way trip, which is why a ride in from a distant airport costs more than the meter’s first minutes suggest.
Show the address, don't say it
Drivers rarely speak English, and a mispronounced street name goes nowhere. Every place page on this site has a Show in Chinese card that fills your screen with the name and address. Hold it up before you get in, not after.
At airports and stations
Use the official taxi rank or the ride-hailing pickup area the signs point to. Turn down anyone who approaches you in the arrivals hall offering a car, and take the rank instead.
A few words for the driver
A receipt is worth asking for from a street taxi. It shows the taxi’s number, which is what you need if you leave something in the car. With DiDi or Alipay, the trip is in your ride history already.
Sources
Checked in September 2026. If something has changed, tell us with the feedback buttons below.
1. Transportation: ride-hailing and metro for foreign travellers (Beijing Municipal Government), 24 Apr 2024.
2. Cruising taxi fare standards (Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport), 10 Mar 2023.
3. DiDi app 7.0: English service for visitors, foreign numbers and cards (Tencent News), 20 Jan 2025.
4. DiDi app 7.0 adds overseas rides; DiDi Rider is the international app (TechNode), 20 Jan 2025.
5. Alibaba's Amap offers ride-hailing function catering to foreign visitors (South China Morning Post), 25 May 2025.
6. Didi offers an English language option for foreigners, with in-app message translation (TechCrunch), 8 May 2017.
Rules and apps change. Get one email when this guide is re-checked or updated, nothing else.
- ✓2026-09 — First published.