How to Use DiDi in China Without a Chinese Bank Account (2026)

Short answer: Don't bother downloading the standalone DiDi app — it requires a Chinese phone number and Chinese bank card to actually book a ride. Instead, set up Alipay before you fly, and use the DiDi mini-program inside Alipay. It's the same DiDi network, your Alipay wallet pays the driver, and the UI is in English.

This is the path every foreign tourist in mainland China is using in 2026, and it's the one we recommend on the China country page.

Why the Standalone DiDi App Doesn't Work for Tourists

If you download "DiDi - Greater China" or "DiDi Rider" from your home App Store, you'll hit one of two walls:

Phone verification requires a Chinese mobile number. SMS codes sent to foreign numbers either don't arrive or arrive in Mandarin, and some account types refuse foreign numbers outright.
Payment binding historically required a Chinese bank card (UnionPay debit issued by a mainland bank). DiDi has added foreign card support in some flows, but it's inconsistent and routinely fails verification.

Foreign tourists have been complaining about this for years. The workaround used to be "have a Chinese friend set it up for you." That stopped being necessary in 2024 when Alipay opened a DiDi mini-program that works with the same Alipay wallet you're already using to pay for everything else in China.

The Setup: What to Do Before You Fly

Three steps, all done from your home country before you land in China:

1. Download Alipay and Complete the Tour Pass Setup

Alipay supports international users via a Tour Pass flow. You give it your passport details, a foreign Visa/Mastercard/Amex, and basic KYC info, and it issues you a sandboxed account that works for spending across mainland China.

Available in Alipay's "Travel in China" section after you sign up
Tour Pass is valid for 90 days per setup
No Chinese phone number required

2. Link Your Foreign Card

Alipay added full Visa, Mastercard, and Amex support for foreign-issued cards in late 2023, and the experience is reliable in 2026. You pay a small foreign-card service fee on transactions over ¥200 (roughly 3%), which is competitive with what you'd pay your bank for international ATM withdrawals anyway.

3. Confirm You Can Find the DiDi Mini-Program

Inside Alipay, you can search for "DiDi" or navigate via Apps → Transportation → DiDi. The first time you open it, Alipay will ask for permission to share basic profile data with DiDi — accept, since you're effectively logging into DiDi as an Alipay user.

If you can open the mini-program before you fly, you're set. You don't need to test-book a ride from your home country.

Booking a Ride in China: How It Actually Works

Once you're in China and on a working network connection (your eSIM, a local SIM, or hotel WiFi):

Open Alipay
Search for "DiDi" or pin it from the apps panel
Set your pickup point (Alipay shares your current location)
Enter your destination — type the English name, the local Chinese name, or the address
Pick the service tier (Express is the cheapest standard option; Premier is the equivalent of UberX/Comfort)
Confirm the price estimate, hit book

Payment is automatic from your Alipay wallet when the ride ends. You don't pay the driver in cash. You don't hand them anything. Just get out.

English UI: The mini-program's UI is in English when your Alipay account language is set to English. Driver messages come through as translated text in the chat. You can paste your destination address into the chat in English and the driver will see a Mandarin translation.

What About Uber?

Uber sold its China operations to DiDi in 2016 and has not operated in mainland China since. If you see an "Uber" entry on a tourist guide for mainland China, the guide is wrong or outdated. (Uber still operates in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, which are separate markets.)

Caveats and Practical Tips

You need an active data connection to book. If you're relying on offline maps, DiDi won't work — get an eSIM (Saily, Airalo, and Holafly all sell working China plans) and have it active before you exit the airport.
Language with the driver: most drivers in tier-1 cities can use the Mandarin/English translation in the chat, but don't expect them to speak English. Address pasting is your friend.
Cash is a poor backup: many drivers no longer carry change, and street taxis in 2026 also expect Alipay/WeChat Pay. If your Alipay setup fails on arrival, you have a real problem — fix it before you're in the airport queue.
Hong Kong is different: Hong Kong uses HKTaxi, Uber, and the standalone DiDi app (which works there with foreign cards). The Alipay mini-program path described here is for mainland China only.

Bottom Line

The DiDi-via-Alipay setup is now the only practical way for foreign tourists to use DiDi in mainland China. Set up Alipay + Tour Pass + foreign card binding from home, confirm you can open the DiDi mini-program inside Alipay before you fly, and you'll never need to download the standalone DiDi app at all.

For the full list of apps you need before flying to mainland China, see our China country page.

Last reviewed: May 13, 2026. The Alipay DiDi mini-program is currently the path our China country page recommends. The standalone DiDi app may add reliable foreign-card support in the future, at which point we'll update this post.

How to Use DiDi in China Without a Chinese Bank Account (2026 Guide)