Metro Cards in China: Transit Passes and Mobile Pay

Green light on the gate, a soft beep, and you’re through. That tiny moment felt like a small victory our first week in China. Getting there cost us a few confused afternoons at ticket machines, so here’s how to skip all of that.

TL;DR: the 30-second version

• You don’t need a physical metro card anymore. The QR transit code inside Alipay or WeChat does the job in most cities.
• Base fares run about ¥2–4 (30–60 US cents). Cheap enough that you’ll stop checking.
• Set the transport code up before you reach the station. Nobody wants to fiddle with an app under a turnstile queue.
• Physical cards still earn their keep as a backup and for kids. They take a deposit, usually ¥20, refundable at a service window.

The short answer: in 2026, just bring your phone. Open the transport code, scan it on the gate, walk through, and the ride gets charged to the payment method you already linked — we’ve been doing exactly that for years now.

The three ways to pay

Every city offers basically the same three options, just with different names:

• QR transit code — inside Alipay or WeChat. The default in 2026.
• A plastic metro card — buy at any station, deposit included, works everywhere.
• NFC on your phone — Apple Pay or Android pay with a local transit card loaded in. Most limited option, more below.

The QR route: Alipay and WeChat

Open Alipay, tap “Transport” (chu xing, roughly “get moving”), pick your city, and a QR code pops up. WeChat has the same thing buried in its mini-programs. Scan it twice per trip — once in, once out — and you’re billed. Foreign Visa and Mastercard linked to Alipay or WeChat now work for transit in the big metros; if your card gets refused, it’s usually the app’s travel-package setup, not the gate.

The catch: it covers “hundreds of cities,” but not all of them. Smaller cities sometimes only accept their local app or plain cash. Beijing, for instance, also runs its own app called Yi Xing Tong (yi xing tong, “one-trip pass”), and Shanghai’s is Da Du Hui (“metropolis”). They’re fine, just redundant when the big two apps already do the job.

The plastic card (and why we still carry one)

Buying a card takes two minutes: hand over cash or your phone, pay the ¥20 deposit, done. Top-ups work at machines with WeChat and Alipay, and some stations still take cash. When you leave China, refund the card at a service window — bring the same phone you recharged with, because at several stations the refund only lands back into that app.

One genuinely nice rule: kids under 1.2 meters tall ride free with a paying adult in most cities. And if your phone dies mid-trip, the plastic card is the difference between a 10-minute walk home and an awkward chat with a station agent.

Fares, and the small print

Base fare is about ¥3 in Beijing, a touch less in Shenzhen, and it scales with distance. Most rides land between ¥2 and ¥6, which is why nobody budgets for transport here. Two quirks worth knowing: Beijing’s Airport Express is a separate line at a flat ¥25, not part of the normal fare table, and Shenzhen gives you a free metro-to-bus swap if you transfer within 90 minutes.

The mistake everyone makes once: forgetting to scan out on the way out of the station. The system doesn’t know you left, so it charges the maximum fare for that line. You can usually fix it at a service window, but it’s a 15-minute conversation in broken Mandarin. Don’t ask how we know.

Pitfalls we hit so you don’t

• Wrong city selected. The Alipay code is city-specific. Land in Shanghai with Beijing still selected and the gate just won’t open.
• Card-only vs QR-only gates. Most stations have both, but a station on its last legs might not. If the gate ignores you, try the next one over.
• Apple Pay is a niche here. NFC transit works mainly in Beijing and Shanghai if you add their travel card to your Wallet. Everywhere else it’s QR or plastic, so don’t make NFC your only plan.
• QR code freshness. The code refreshes every minute or so, and it’s tied to your location. Screenshotting it “just in case” gets you a red X at the gate.

Editorial review: EasternReset Team · Snapshot: 2026-09. Found an error? Let us know.

Quick answers

Q: Do I still need a metro card in China in 2026? A: No. The Alipay or WeChat transport code covers most cities, and foreign cards work for transit in the big metros.

Q: How much does the metro cost in China? A: Roughly ¥2–6 per trip depending on distance, with base fares around ¥2–3 in most cities.

Q: What happens if I forget to scan out? A: The system charges the maximum fare for that line. Visit a service window and they can usually correct it.