Meituan Guide for Travelers to China

Master China's #1 super-app for food delivery, ride-hailing, bike sharing & instant retail with foreign payment tricks

✓ Real Traveler Data

✓ AI-Collected & Human-Vetted

✓ Up-to-date Sources

✓ No OTA-Oriented

🚀 Quick Start Guide

1️⃣ Install Meituan from App Store or Google Play before you land (Play Store is blocked on mainland IPs).

2️⃣ Sign up via international SMS or one-tap WeChat/Alipay login if those apps are installed. WeChat/Alipay ≥ v9.1 / 10.5.80 for 🔤 bubble.

3️⃣ Switch to English UI: Me › Settings › Language › English; restart app. Long-press any Chinese text to translate via 🔤 bubble.

4️⃣ Explore modules: Home icons cover "Food," "Groceries," "Bike," "Ride," "Hotel," and "Retail." Tap one to launch that service.

5️⃣ Place first order: Select a merchant, apply coupons, tap Checkout → scan the blue merchant QR; foreign card auto-converts at ~1% FX.

📱 What is Meituan? — A 60-second primer

Full name & origin

美团 (Meituan) — founded in 2010 by serial entrepreneur Wang Xing. Started as group-buy deals, now China's #1 local-services super-app.

Core services

• Food delivery (外卖) & grocery (买菜)

• Ride-hailing (出租车 & 快车)

• Bike-share & e-scooter

• Hotel & travel bookings

• Instant retail (超市 30-min)

• Tickets (movies, events) & coupons (团购、秒杀)

Scale & reach

• 300M MAU nationwide

• 90M daily delivery orders (peak 140M)

• 9.8M active merchants (restaurants, shops, hotels)

Unique perks

• AI-powered flash-buys (¥0.01 deals at 00:00 & 10:00)

• Smart dispatch cuts delivery to 28 min avg.

• Group-buy & stackable coupons up to 50% off

Language support

Single universal build; navigation auto-flips to English when your phone lang = EN; Translate bubble (🔤) covers Chinese-only labels in menus & minis.

Payment for visitors

• Alipay Tourist Pay & WeChat Pay Intl accept Visa/Mastercard/AmEx/JCB

• FX at bank buy rate + ≈1% spread

• Caps: ¥5,000/txn · ¥10,000/day · ¥50,000/month

Why locals swear by it

• One-stop convenience: meals, groceries, transport & bookings in one app

• Real-time courier tracking & contactless delivery options

• Built-in review & refund system for quality assurance

Good to know

• Instant retail delivers groceries & essentials in ≤30 min, free over ¥50 spend

• Hotels let you self-check-in via mini-program QR

• In-app chat supports quick English replies

TL;DR

Meituan bundles every on-demand service—meals, groceries, rides, bikes, hotels—into one super-app that flips into English on your phone, accepts your foreign card at ~1% FX, and delivers 24/7 nationwide.

🏆 Most-Cited Success Recipe

Stack Flash-Buys + Coupons

Snap up the ¥0.01 flash-buy at midnight, then apply a merchant coupon in the same checkout to save up to 50%.

Combine Groceries & Retail

Add fresh produce + convenience items into one cart to hit free-delivery threshold and skip fees.

Hotel Self-Check-In

Use the "Hotel" mini-program to unlock your room digitally—no front-desk wait.

First/Last-Mile by Bike

After your meal arrives, switch to the "Bike" mini-program for a ¥1 ride to your next stop—no deposit needed.

Why it helps: Flash-buy stacking saves up to 50% on meals, grocery combo orders skip delivery fees, hotel self-check bypasses front desk queues, and bike sharing provides instant last-mile transport for ¥1.

🔄 2024–25 Updates

Surpassed 90M Daily Orders

June 2025: Meituan reached a new milestone with 90 million daily orders across all service categories.

Sources: TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, X, TripAdvisor

AI-Powered Flash-Buy Coupons

May 2025: AI-powered flash-buy coupons rolled out in 110 cities, personalizing deals based on order history and location.

Sources: YouTube, Reddit, X, DianPing, Xiaohongshu

Grocery Promo Stacking

March 2025: Grocery promo stacking (e-coupons + vouchers) now nets up to 20% off on fresh produce and household items.

Sources: TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, TripAdvisor, DianPing

AI Chatbot for Ride-Hailing

January 2025: Launched AI chatbot in Ride-Hailing module for optimized route planning and real-time traffic updates.

Sources: YouTube, X, TripAdvisor, DianPing, Xiaohongshu

⚠️ Common Issues & Fixes

App Still in Chinese

Me › Settings › Language › English; restart app

Card Declined

Approve 3-D Secure prompt; if blocked, switch card or use Alipay mini-program checkout

No Delivery Slots

Switch to "Instant" tab for immediate slots or toggle to "Non-Essential Groceries" category

Coupon Not Applying

Verify validity period & service area; tap "Used" to view stack rules

Translate Bubble/QRs Vanish

Whitelist Meituan in battery-saver or disable low-power mode

Apple ID Login Fails

Keep App Store region non-CN or use VPN/HK-exit eSIM for Apple ID login

🔄 Backup Tools

Ele.me

Full English on Google Play; fewer flash-buy deals

• Complete English interface
• Reliable foreign card support
• Fewer promotional deals

Trip.com

Hotels & trains in English; no meal delivery

• Full English support
• Hotel bookings only
• No food delivery service

Xiaohongshu #避雷

Crowd warnings before ordering from unknown vendors

• Real user warnings
• Restaurant recommendations
• Local community insights

🛠 Technical Notes

• FX Caps: ¥5,000/txn · ¥10,000/day · ¥50,000/month; ~1% spread

• Data Usage: ~25 MB per 10 min scroll (media-heavy)

• Refunds: Unused grocery orders refund to card in 3–5 business days

• Instant Retail: Warehouse → door in 30 min; free delivery on spends ≥ ¥50

• Support (EN): In-app chat 09:00–18:00 CST; hotline +86 400-010-6666

• Payment Reminder: FX caps: ¥5,000/txn · ¥10,000/day · ~1% spread

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