# Surviving Daily Life in China: Toilets, Plugs, Water & Language Tips > The unglamorous essentials for visitors to China — public toilets, plug types and voltage, drinking water, the language barrier and a daily survival checklist. _Category: tips · Reading time: 4 min read_ The big sights are easy to find. The small daily frictions — a squat toilet with no paper, a dead phone and a socket that doesn't fit — are what catch visitors off guard. Here is the unglamorous but essential stuff. ## Public toilets Public toilets (look for 公共卫生间 or a 厕 sign) are free and everywhere, but many are squat style and do not provide paper. Carry your own tissue or a small pack. Toilet paper is sold in every convenience store, so restock whenever you see one. ## Plugs, voltage and charging China uses 220V / 50Hz with Type A (two flat pins), Type I (three flat pins, Australian-style) and Type C (two round pins) sockets. Bring a universal adapter. If your phone dies, rent a shared power bank (共享充电宝) from a street kiosk or café — scan with Alipay or WeChat and return it at any partner point. ## Drinking water Do not drink from the tap. Bottled water (矿泉水) is cheap and sold everywhere. Hotels and train stations usually offer free hot-water dispensers — bring a reusable bottle. Ice in established cafés is generally fine; roadside ice is a gamble. ## The language barrier Very little English is spoken by taxi drivers and many shop staff. Always keep your hotel's name and address written in Chinese characters, and screenshot or pin your destination on a map app. A translation app with a downloaded Chinese offline pack is your best friend. ## Delivery, laundry and daily services Food delivery (Meituan, Ele.me) needs a Chinese phone number and local payment app, so it is usually impractical for short visits — eat out instead. For laundry, our KOULING hotels offer free laundry, so pack light. Convenience stores (7-Eleven, Lawson, FamilyMart) are your reliable stop for snacks, water, adapters and SIM top-ups. ## Weather, air and what to pack Beijing is dry with four distinct seasons — hot, humid summers; cold, dry winters; pleasant spring and autumn. Air quality varies; check the AQI app and wear a mask on hazy days. Pack lip balm and moisturiser — the dryness surprises people. ## Getting connected: SIM cards, eSIMs and the VPN question Your SIM or eSIM choice shapes your whole trip. A Chinese SIM from China Unicom or China Mobile (about ¥100–200 for a tourist data plan, passport required) gives you fast data but puts you inside the Great Firewall: no Google Maps, WhatsApp, Instagram or Gmail. An international eSIM with roaming (Airalo, Holafly and similar) costs more — roughly $5–15 per GB or day-pass pricing — but routes you around those blocks, so Google Maps and WhatsApp work as at home. Many visitors run both: local SIM for DiDi, Meituan and reservations; foreign eSIM for the apps they already rely on. Buy airport counters or official stores only, and confirm your plan supports Alipay/WeChat verification texts. If you rely on work email, install and test a VPN before departure — downloading one inside China is unreliable. ## Paying for things: why cash is no longer king China runs on QR codes. WeChat Pay and Alipay both accept foreign cards now — download Alipay (easier for tourists), verify with your Visa/Mastercard, and you can scan at markets, metro gates and corner shops. Small merchants may not take cash change easily; street vendors sometimes cannot break a ¥100 note. Carry maybe ¥200–300 in small bills as backup for the rare cash-only situation, but expect to use your phone for nearly everything. Two practical notes: Alipay's TourPass mini-program offers a workaround if card linking fails, and transit works best through Alipay's built-in Beijing transit code (乘车码) — no metro ticket queue needed. ## Related Beijing guides If you found this useful, these cover the next question most visitors ask: - **Practical Tips** — /guides/travel-tips/ - **First Time** — /guides/beijing-winter-travel-guide/ - **Transport** — /guides/surviving-chunyun-travel-tips/ ## Common first-week mistakes - **Booking sights too late** — The Forbidden City and Mao's Mausoleum sell out days ahead; the Summer Palace does not. Book the Palace Museum on its official WeChat mini-program with your passport — it is your ticket. - **Forgetting your passport** — You need it to enter most ticketed sites, collect rail tickets and check in. A photo on your phone is not accepted. - **Leaving the metro exit wrong** — Beijing stations can have 8+ exits a kilometre apart. Check the exit letter on a map app before surfacing. - **Eating only at the hotel** — The best value meals are local canteens and noodle shops at ¥20–40 — staff may not speak English, so point at what others are eating. - **Skipping the off-season** — November and late March give you the same sights with half the queues; national holidays (early October, early May) mean wall-to-wall crowds. ## Survival checklist - **Carry tissues or toilet paper** — Squat toilets rarely supply it. - **Universal adapter plus power bank** — Sockets differ and you'll charge often. - **Hotel address in Chinese** — Show it to any driver or helper. - **Offline maps downloaded** — Signal and Google services drop out. - **Some small cash** — For the occasional cash-only stall. ## Where to stay **KOULING Ruiyue Hotel** — 5m from Guogongzhuang Metro Station · 9.6/10 · US$26 View hotel: https://12001.net/hotels/ruiyue/ KOULING Ruiyue is 5 metres from Guogongzhuang Metro (Line 9 / Fangshan Line), accepts international cards and registers foreign passport holders on the spot — free laundry and a front desk used to overseas guests take the friction out of daily life. ## Where to stay **KOULING Hotel Beijing Donggaodi** — 7 min walk to Wufutang Metro Station (Line 8) · 9.4/10 · US$19 View hotel: https://12001.net/hotels/donggaodi/ KOULING Donggaodi has free Wi-Fi, free laundry and parking, a 7-minute walk from Wufutang Station on Line 8, rooms from US$19 and rated 9.4/10 — free laundry and parking mean one less daily chore while you settle in. --- Source: https://12001.net/guides/china-day-to-day-survival/ © KOULING Hotels