Beijing went cashless faster than anywhere else in China and it blindsides every tourist. You literally cannot function without Alipay or WeChat Pay - street food vendors, subway ticket machines, taxis, even temple donation boxes only take mobile payments. Cash is basically worthless.

Download Alipay before your flight and set up the international tourist account. Takes 5 minutes: download app, upload passport photo, link your foreign Visa/Mastercard, done. The system accepts cards from 100+ countries and converts currency automatically. Load at least 500 yuan equivalent to start.

Airport wifi at Beijing Capital is notoriously slow for app downloads - I've watched entire families stuck at immigration because they couldn't get payment apps working. Hotel wifi first day is your backup plan but you'll be stranded until then.

Pro tip: Those breakfast jianbing carts outside subway stations? Mobile payment only, no exceptions. Same goes for 99% of convenience stores, bubble tea shops, and street vendors. Even elderly vendors have QR codes now.