Chinese food is the trip. The good news: paying and ordering are easier than ever with Alipay/WeChat scan-to-order and menu-translation apps. This is the 2026 foreigner briefing for eating well without the awkward bits.
China isn't one cuisine - it's a dozen regions. A few anchors are worth building a trip around.
Build a food crawl into your city stops - Yiwu's night market is a low-risk street-food intro, and Xi'an's Muslim Quarter is a destination in itself. See the Yiwu plan and the Xi'an plan.
Three ways to get food in front of you without a Chinese phrasebook.
Virtually every restaurant - fine dining to a noodle stall - takes Alipay or WeChat Pay. Bind a foreign card inside the apps before you travel (airport help desks and QR guides walk you through it), then scan the merchant's QR or let them scan yours. Cash is rarely needed; keep a little RMB only for the rare tiny stall.
For the step-by-step binding and the two QR flows, see the cashless payment guide.
It isn't expected and can confuse the bill. Some upscale hotels add a service charge; otherwise just pay the QR total.
Meals are ordered family-style for the table, not per person. Use the serving spoons, not your own chopsticks, for the communal plates.
Don't stand them upright in a bowl of rice (it echoes a funeral rite), and don't spear food with them. Rest them on the holder.
At a tea setting, top up others' cups - a small courtesy. The free restaurant tea is boiled water, safe to drink.
Drink bottled or boiled water, not tap. For what to bring home from a food crawl - spices, tea, snacks - see What to Buy in China 2026.
Yes - bind a foreign card inside Alipay and WeChat Pay and you can pay at almost any restaurant, from a Michelin dim-sum house to a street noodle stall. Many places also use scan-to-order: scan the QR on the table with Alipay/WeChat, browse the menu in the app, and pay in-app. For the full setup, see the cashless payment guide.
No - don't drink tap water. Drink bottled or boiled water; the free tea poured at restaurants is boiled and safe. Buy bottled water from any shop or the app; it's cheap and everywhere.
Three tricks: (1) scan-to-order apps show pictures and often an English or image menu; (2) use a translate app (Baidu / Tencent translate) on the physical menu; (3) point at what a neighbouring table is eating or at pictures on the wall. Tourist-area restaurants usually have photo menus or an English sheet.
Generally yes at busy stalls with high turnover and visible high-heat cooking - jianbing, baozi, skewers and noodle stands are staples. Watch for crowded, popular stalls (locals are the best quality signal) and food that's cooked hot in front of you. Yiwu's night market is a great, low-risk intro.
No tipping - it isn't expected and can confuse the bill. Some upscale hotels add a service charge; otherwise just pay the QR total. Rounding up isn't customary either.
Food safety and app availability change; confirm current guidance from your home advisories and in-app on the day. For entry and transit rules that frame your trip, use the official English sources below.