Chinese apps for dummies

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CHINESE APPS FOR DUMMIES

Vika Pesenti unveils the tips and tricks that will change your way of using WeChat, Dianping and Didi.

Messaging services are as good as the amount of friends you have using them. With 889 million monthly active users (over about 91% of the population of China aged +15), it's likely you'll find all your Chinese friends on WeChat.

While the basic messaging functionality is similar to the likes of Whatsapp, Telegram or Signal, there is a whole complex underlying platform waiting to be explored.

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Get started: First download the app from your app store of choosing. Then you create your account choosing a username and password. You will be asked for your phone number to verify your account and finally you will be able to set your profile picture.

Find and add friends Finding friends is easier than ever with WeChat, except for scanning a QR-Code or importing the contacts from your phone you can also:

1. Shake and people nearby function: you can find friends nearby by shaking your phone or choosing “people nearby”. To do it look for the button (discover icon) and select one of the two options and see who is around you.

2. The friend radar: this is the quickest way if you want to add a big group of friends at once instead of adding their contacts one by one. All you should do is click on (+ icon) then select “add friends” and finally open the “Friends radar”, click on the profile picture of your new friends to add them. Remember that everyone in the group need to open the radar to be visible and be added!

3. Phone number or WeChat ID: This is the most traditional way but is useful when you only have a phone number or the WeChat ID*. Just click (+ icon), select “add friends” and type on the space above.

Tips and tricks for friends’ requests

• The unknown friend request, the horror of every social network user, if you are not sure who is trying to befriend you, it is possible to use the "anonymous" chat without accepting the friend request.

• Once you found your friends and your contact list is becoming a mess you can filter your friends by setting a remark or a tag in the “option panel”. You can even change their name (which is only visible on your phone) in case your friend has an unpronounceable name or you just would like to have a friend called "Nick the Ghost Rider".

• If you are wondering where all your contacts came from, whether it was a third person sharing your contact card or from a group WeChat will show it to you. You can find out just opening the chat, click on your friends’ profile picture and once it will display the contact card select “more”.

WeChat Search While most people use Baidu or Bing in China, WeChat also has a search engine built in but if you're trying to find something on WeChat groups, accept nothing else!

Hack and tricks for WeChat search engine

• If you are looking so information about what is happening around you we recommend you just to digit the name of the city and add few words to describe

what are you looking for (i.e. news, events…).

• If you are looking for a job or an internship in China WeChat Search is the perfect tool. Many companies and job agencies post weekly job openings with their official accounts.

• Once you have found an article or the information you need, you can save it for later by marking it as "favorite" and find it anytime in the “favorite” folder.

WeChat Pay WeChat’s greatest highlight is probably the pay function. Even though many options are only available in Chinese, foreigners as well find it very easy and indispensable once you arrive in China. No matters where you are either super market, taxi or restaurant, whenever it comes to pay you will always see the WeChat QR.

How does it work? First, you need a Chinese bank account, once you got your card you can just add it on your WeChat “Wallet”.

Once your card is linked to your account you have multiple choices to start spending money. You can charge you phone, paying the next lunch at the restaurant and much more. You can always keep track of your balance and check all the transactions. Some apps such as DiDi even have a WeChat integration, allowing you to pay straight from WeChat.

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