If you’re preparing for a trip to China, you probably already know that you’ll need a lot of space on your phone. In this country, practically everything happens through your device, and their app ecosystem is completely different from ours. Want to pay, order a taxi, or take the subway? You’ll need AliPay. Want to know how to get from one place to another? Use AMap (Google Maps won’t help you at all). Want to find a good restaurant and get a discount? Check Dianping. Figurin

AliPay is a must-have if you're traveling to China. This super app is incredibly useful for many things, but two functions make it truly essential: making payments and using public transportation. When you download and open it for the first time, you'll see a home page full of icons. To our eyes, accustomed to more minimalist Western applications, this may seem chaotic or excessive. However, in China, it's very common. There, what's popular are powerful apps with multiple fun

Most people are surprised when I tell them that I recommend spending at least four days in Beijing to fully enjoy it. Four days is just the perfect amount of time to see the most emblematic places and get a taste of the city's atmosphere without rushing. Sure, my opinion may be a bit biased since I lived there for half a year, and I still feel like I didn't have enough time! But honestly, if you can swing it, dedicate the days this incredible city deserves. Treat yourself to

Getting around Beijing can seem complicated at first. Everything is vast, distances are deceiving, and many of the transportation and mobility apps we usually use don't work or are completely useless. The reality, however, is that their system is perfectly organized and is surprisingly easy, efficient and cheap. In fact, I would gladly trade it for the one in any European city. Everything is centralized in an app, Alipay , which you can use to take public transport, a DIdi (c

Beijing is a big city (or rather, a GIANT), with almost 22 million inhabitants. This can be overwhelming for anyone who lands there for the first time, especially those of us who are used to compact and walkable European cities. The distances are much greater than we imagine and, moreover, being the political center of China, there is a control that, for someone who is used to living in Europe, may seem excessive. But, at the same time, there are moments when it seems like a