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Five things you need to understand before you travel to China for business

So what are these five things you need to understand before you travel to China for business?

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Number one: Chinese factories and suppliers are not on WhatsApp

WhatsApp has been banned in China. So for you to be able to use WhatsApp in China, you have to buy VPN. And majority of the suppliers and the companies are not ready to use WhatsApp because they prefer using their own WhatsApp and that is WeChat and you know the Chinese don't speak English.

So sometimes they find it very difficult to communicate to their customers on WhatsApp. So if you are traveling to China for business, you need to understand that WhatsApp is banned in China. As soon as you land at the airport, your WhatsApp is not going to work. For you to access WhatsApp, you have to buy VPN for you to be able to use WhatsApp and maybe talk to your family and friends back home.

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Number two: WeChat

You need to download WeChat and verify your WeChat before you travel to China. And anyone who wants to do serious business in China, you need to have WeChat because all the suppliers and the factories are on WeChat. And you can use WeChat to also pay your suppliers. You can use WeChat to do so many things.

Now when you are transacting business with your suppliers you have to communicate with your suppliers through WeChat because majority of the suppliers don't understand English when you are chatting with them on WeChat the language is translated to them and you can also translate it to English. So you'll be able to chat you'll be able to talk to your supplier.

Sometime you can even visit a factory. You can even go to a supplier. That supplier does not understand English. You can use your WeChat on your phone to communicate with the supplier. Do everything with that supplier and you'll be able to transact your business in China without any sweat.

So you need to have WeChat and also try as much as you can to verify your WeChat before you visit China.

And one thing that you also need to understand is anything that you are buying in China, you have to make sure that you are going to keep the receipt on WeChat. So let's say when you buy something from a supplier, make sure you take a screenshot of the receipt and you send to the supplier.

The reason why you have to do that is very simple. Maybe a supplier can sell fake product to you. And if the supplier sell a fake product to you, because you have the receipt on WeChat, you can even send the supplier message. Hey, I bought this product for me and this product is not quality. So why do you even sell a product that is not even quality to me in the first place? You can even call for refund because you have the receipt.

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Number three: You have to download Alipay

You link your bank card and everything through Alip Pay because we use Alip Pay to pay suppliers in China. Now when you go to China for business, majority of the suppliers don't use cash, they use Alip Pay.

Now one thing that you need to also understand when you download Alip pay and you verify your Alip pay your Alip pay cannot contain certain amount of money because your Alip pay is not merchant and if you're going to do so many transactions on your Alip pay they will block your Alip pay. So your Alip pay has a minimum amount that it can take.

Now when you get to China you can change dollars to R&B. So if you are from Ghana and you have mobile money, you can also transfer your mobile money to a merchant user and that merchant user will change it and give you R&B. So Alip pay is very very important.

You can also use your Alip pay to book a taxi on your smartphone. You cannot do business in China without Alip Pay.

The reason why it is very very important to pay your suppliers through Alip Pay is very simple. Let's say I'm in Ghana. I can buy things in China just using my Alip Pay on my phone to pay. As simple as ABC. So, Alip Pay is a must app you need to have on your phone before you travel to China.

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Number four: Tik Tok, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn

All the social media apps will not work in China because it is banned in China. You need to have a VPN to be able to operate your Tik Tok, Facebook, Instagram. If you're a content creator like me, you need a strong VPN.

Now, when you get to the airport, there are people who sell VPN and sometime their VPN are not good. You have to go to a place like Tonton. When you go to ton, you can get a good VPN to be able to operate Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook and the rest.

So, you need VPN in China and you need a strong VPN. Sometime people get their own VPN before they travel to China. But I always buy VPN in China because some of the VPN that you buy before you travel to China, when you go to China, those VPNs are not going to work.

I remember when I was in Kata, there was a particular VPN that I used in Kata and that VPN was working properly for me. But when I got to China, that VPN was not working. So you need a good VPN in China to be able to use your social media handles.

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Number five: You need Diddi app on your phone

Didi is another version of Uber. right now. If you travel to China and you are going to use internal taxi, trust me, you are going to lose a lot of money because the Chinese taxi drivers can sense from afar and know that if it is your first time that you have traveled to China and sometimes you will take a taxi, right?

And you have to use meter on the taxi because you don't have the DD app on your phone and you book a taxi. The taxi driver can take you to so many place because you don't know anywhere in China by the time you get to your destination. You are going to pay a lot of money.

So get DD app like Uber on your phone before you travel to China. And when you travel to China and you are using DD app because as soon as you order from your DD app, you know the money that you are paying to your destination. So the driver cannot tell you that you have to pay so so and so amount.

So get your DD app and learn how to operate your DD app before you go to China.

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