Public transport in China is very comfortable if you can handle the all-Chinese app Amap and have Alipay.

3.1 Local Transport

First, you'll have to get the public transport QRs of your city. For that, go to the "Travel" tab of Alipay (it's the 3rd of the four blue buttons on top), choose your city in the drop down menu in the top right corner, and activate the Bus (公交) and Subway (地铁) codes. In some cities, there might be one QR for all, like in Hangzhou.

The systems can vary a bit from place to place. In Beijing, you scan the QR when you get on and off a bus, in Hangzhou only when you get on; a bus ride costs about 13 cents. When you enter the subway station and you are past the security check, you scan the code to go through the doors; a subway ride costs between 26 and 39 cents. Public transport is really cheap.

Amap helps you to find the quickest route to your destination. Just activate GPS, click on the place you want to go, and then click the blue button with the white arrow. Tada, a dozen ways to get you there pop up, you only need to choose whether you want to walk (步行), take public transport (公交地铁),  want to ride a bike (骑行), or go by Taxi (打车).

In Beijing Amap can even tell you when the next bus arrives, in Hangzhou you can scan the QR on the bus station to find out. The app also automatically notices once you hopped on, and it continues to show your progress and even tells you when you are approaching your stop or a hop. Just make sure to get on on the correct side of the road/tracks. For the bus you can derive that from the driving direction, when it comes to the subway, just look for the next station on Amap and compare that to the directions at the track.

Using the taxi is more complicated, but also works with Alipay. You need the DăChē (打车) tab in Travel. Activate GPS and then type in your destination (Yes, type. Searching by hand will probably drive you mad.) It will propose a bunch of different sellers. The most common one is DiDi (滴滴). Once you chose your hop-on location and the service provider, you just click ok and then wait. By the way, you have to wait exactly at the proposed position, so double-check you starting location and don't move, or they won't find you.

If you, like me, let others call you the taxi because you can't handle the app, have your WeChat Pay ready, so that you aren't as miserable as I... A taxi ride costs about 4$, much more expensive yhan public transport and not that much quicker. Just more comfortable when you have big luggage.

However, when you travel by plane, just know that every airport has an airport subway connection, so you can take that instead of fiddling for a taxi in the crowded arrival hall.

Just in general, I advise you to use the bus as much as possible, because it allows you to explore the city and discover places you might want to go later.

3.2 Cross-city Transport

China and Japan have the fastest trains in the world. You can travel a distance of 1600km in 5 hours. (Just for the Germans: we take 5 hours to travel 400km... German technology, my butt...)

And in China the fast train tickets are very cheap. I paid 70€ for my 1600km trip from Beijing to Hangzhou, second class.

You can look up a suitable connection on Alipay in the "12306 China Railway" mini app. Put in your starting city and your destination city and it'll provide you with all the train connections and prices.

Unfortunately, if you are a foreigner, booking the ticket online is close to impossible. I tried everything, registered my passport for an account and all, but it didn't work. So, I went to purchase my ticket at the fast train station four days earlier. I showed the cashier the connection I wanted on Alipay, and they managed the rest. Spontaneous travel is close to impossible, because the fast trains are sold out one day before the departure. But if you, like me, are not a big fan of airports, that's your way to travel between your different stays in China.

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