If you live in China, you need to be pretty tech savvy to survive! Here are 3 of our favorite apps that make life easier for expats.
In China, you may have noticed that people say "Let's take a DiDi there" more often then they say "Let's take a cab there." DiDi's English version is available in more than 400 cities across China and gives you the best options for getting around China quickly and conveniently.
Using DiDi's English version is easy and doesn't take a lot of time to set up. You can download the English version in the app store (search for DiDi - Greater China), or if you already have the Chinese version you can change it to English by going to Settings > Language > English.
You can then sign up using your phone number, set up your preferred payment method and call your first car. They offer express, taxi, premier and luxe ride options. Customer service is in English, and you can message your driver directly using their pre-set templates or your own message. DiDi will auto-translate your messages into Chinese for easy communication.
2. Bon App
Bon App is a great resource for connecting people to everything they need in China. Use it to search for restaurants, hotels, housing, hospitals, spas and more. Listings include English reviews from other users and useful information about the business, including directions and contact information.
You can also try out Bon App's social features to chat online with people located in your area and meet up in person. Bon App is available in 13 Asian cities and has over 1 million international and local users.
3. Pleco
Pleco is hands down the most helpful Chinese dictionary app. Their dictionaries even work offline, so if you run out of phone credit or have a friend visiting from back home they can look up words without needing to connect to WiFi. After looking up a word, Pleco will show you all related Chinese translation. You then have the option to listen to an audio recording of the word or bookmarking it so you can refer back to it later.
Everything we have described above is available with the free version of the app, and for additional fees you can purchase add-ons that include flashcards, document readers, handwriting search functionality and more.
Stay tuned for the launch of the official Baopals App in the coming weeks!
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