Before you start

Passport, and usually a residence permit or at least a valid visa
A Chinese address for broadband installation
An unlocked handset — Chinese networks use common bands but a carrier-locked device will not work
A payment method for top-ups, which is easiest once Alipay or WeChat Pay is live

Step-by-step

1
Get the SIM in your first days
Any China Mobile, Unicom or Telecom shop will issue one against your passport under real-name registration. Prepaid plans with generous data are inexpensive. The number is the key to the bank account, the payment apps, delivery services and building access systems, so do it before anything else.
In personWho: YouDay 1–2
2
Register the number in your own name, not your employer's
A number registered to the company is convenient until you change jobs, at which point it takes your payment apps, your bank verification and your delivery history with it. Insist on registering it to your passport.
In personWho: You
3
Order broadband and check what the building actually has
Chinese fibre is fast and inexpensive by international standards. Installation depends on what is wired into your building and on the landlord's cooperation — many Shanghai leases already include a line, and taking over an existing account is much faster than a new install.
In personWho: You1–2 weeks
4
Sort out your access to blocked services before you arrive
Decide in advance how you will reach the accounts you cannot lose — email, password manager, authenticator, banking. Many employers issue a corporate connection for work systems. Whatever your arrangement, set it up and test it while you still have unrestricted access.
OnlineWho: YouBefore departure
5
Move your two-factor authentication off SMS to a foreign number
If a home-country bank sends codes to your old number and that number lapses, you can be locked out of your own money from another country. Keep the old SIM alive on a cheap plan or move to an authenticator app before you go.
OnlineWho: YouBefore departure
6
Install the apps that constitute daily life here
WeChat for everything social and half of everything official, Alipay for payments and city services, Amap or Baidu Maps for navigation, DiDi for taxis, Meituan and Ele.me for delivery. Western equivalents mostly do not work, and Google Maps is unusable here.
Mobile appWho: YouWeek 1

Documents you’ll need

Passport
Residence permit or valid visa
Chinese address for broadband
Payment method for top-ups

Things most newcomers don’t know

The phone number is the root of your identity in China, and losing it is expensive.

Your Chinese mobile number is the verification anchor for your bank account, Alipay, WeChat Pay, hospital appointment systems, delivery apps and often your residential compound's access control. Because real-name registration binds it to your passport, re-establishing it after a lapse means redoing the registration and then re-verifying every downstream service. Treat the number as more important than the handset.

Source: Ministry of Industry and Information Technology

Company-registered numbers are common and convenient at first. The problem arrives at the end of the job: the number belongs to the employer, and with it goes the verification path to your bank account and your payment wallets, at exactly the moment your relationship with that employer may be least warm. Registering to your own passport costs one extra shop visit and removes an entire category of exit problem.

Source: community-reported

Plan for the blocked services rather than improvising after you land.

Google, Gmail, Meta's services, WhatsApp, X and many Western news and productivity sites are not reachable from an ordinary Chinese connection. This is a stated fact of the operating environment, not a rumour. The concrete risks are practical: an authenticator you cannot reach, a work email that will not sync, a family group chat that stops. Sort out your arrangement while you still have open access, and expect WeChat to become your primary channel with everyone in China.

Source: community-reported

Chinese apps replace, rather than supplement, the ones you arrive with.

Google Maps is not usable here — the base data is poor and offset by China's mandatory coordinate system — so Amap or Baidu Maps is the answer. Uber does not operate; DiDi does. Deliveroo-style services are Meituan and Ele.me. WeChat is not merely a messenger: it is where your landlord, your building manager, your colleagues, official service accounts and half of Chinese commerce live. Setting these up in the first week is the single biggest quality-of-life step.

Source: community-reported

Common mistakes to avoid

Letting the employer register your SIM in the company's name.
Arriving without having tested how you will reach blocked accounts.
Leaving two-factor authentication on a home-country number you then let lapse.
Signing a broadband contract before checking whether the flat already has a live line.
Relying on Google Maps, which is effectively unusable in mainland China.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.