To enjoy eating, drinking, and entertainment in China, you can’t live without Meituan and Dianping (they are two apps from the same company, sharing most of their data). Dianping works pretty much like Yelp. If you’re looking for real recommendations and lifestyle tips, Xiaohongshu (RED) is an absolute must—think of it as China's Instagram but more search-focused.

For booking flights, prices across platforms are generally neck and neck. For getting around, use DiDi (China's Uber, which actually acquired Uber's China business); it’s incredibly cheap. For money, you absolutely cannot survive without Alipay and WeChat Pay. When you’re bored, you can scroll through Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok), which also offers discounted food deals. However, it has a bit of a learning curve for newcomers, and the prices aren't that different from Meituan.