Shopping

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Many people have heard about China’s cashless society and how we pay for everything with WeChatPay and AliPay, even for in-person transactions–but did you know that we use apps for almost everything, including grocery shopping? In China, MeiTuan (美团）(see here for more information about it) and Eleme （饿了么）are two of the most popular food delivery apps, while Pinduoduo (cheap goods, used more by local residents–the company that owns Temu, by the way) and JSS & Sherpa’s (for foreigners in English) are other ends of the spectrum.

How do you look up what you want to buy on Meituan or Eleme? First, look it up in your chosen Chinese/English dictionary (Pleco & KT Dict C/E are popular), then open the app, and copy and paste the characters into the search function. Alternatively, you can tap on the store of choice (ie WuMart, April Gourmet) and search within that vendor for what you want.

Even if you’re not great at Chinese, it’s a good idea to memorize the basic food words you order a lot. For me, these are:

Coke Zero: 零度可乐
Oatly oat milk: Oatly 燕麦奶
Soda water: 苏打水
Tomatoes:西红柿 or 番茄
Paper towels/napkins: 纸巾
Toilet paper: 厕纸
Chocolate: 巧克力
Spinach: 菠菜
Cheddar cheese: 红切达
Pasta：意大利面

See the video from the start, this post, or the video linked below to see this step by step!

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Finally, tap on the yellow in the bottom right where it says “去结算“ and add your address to start checking out. It’s a great idea to keep your local address alongside your first name and phone number in the Notes app if you live in China–but this also works for your hotel if you are visiting! These delivery apps are MUCH easier to use than signing up for WeChat, as long as you have AliPay set up with your foreign bank card¹. The location finding is good for large hotels but can be tricky for local addresses, especially in traditional, old parts of cities–or in smaller cities in China.

Tap on the yellow in the bottom right where it says “去结算“ and add your address to check out.

One more tip: if your home is hard to find in China and you don’t speak Chinese well, you can often send photos or text that you translate with directions to the delivery men. More on that in a future post!

Once you confirm your address and submit the order, you’ll be taken to Alipay or WeChat to pay (you can choose), and then you wait until a rider is assigned and brings your order!

That’s all for today. Please leave any comments below related to daily life in China for foreigners! Coming soon is a video about the top apps that we use in China. For a free quick guide to China, or to receive updates on future posts, go here.

See this YouTube video for step by step directions–the link takes you directly to the AliPay part about adding a bank card. ↩︎

Have you ever wondered what medicines are available over the counter in China? It was more controlled during the pandemic to track cases, but you can buy it easily now on your phone (as of February 2024). Ibuprofen, cold medicine, birth control, and allergy medications are all available OTC and for cheap or free delivery in China.

As a former frequent migraine sufferer and a current sufferer of endometriosis, Advil–or ibuprofen, as its generic name goes–is my best friend. Now that I’ve lived in China for years, I have a little note on my phone with medicine that I look up and buy frequently (because we do this on our phones, in addition to grocery shopping and having dinner delivered for 50 cents to a dollar a pop). I’ll talk about the Chinese equivalent of Zyrtec later, but today, let’s focus on Chinese ibuprofen. Read on to know how to look up ibuprofen on Meituan.

What is Meituan (美团)?

Meituan is one of the must-have apps to use if you live in China. This app and Éleme are the main ones used by local people to buy goods. I say “local” because many foreigners who are less familiar with Chinese use JSS or Sherpa’s, but those apps–while wonderfully convenient, with great customer service–offer FAR fewer items for sale and have insane delivery fees (for China–by US standards, their fees of 10-80 yuan, or $1.50-$12, aren’t so insane).

I don’t even know if you can buy medicine on the apps for foreigners, though. The nice thing is that if you are comfortable with translating screen shots, you can save a LOT of money, and Meituan offers a TON of discounts. (I routinely pay $3 for $14 worth of coupons, and here, if you don’t use a coupon, they refund you the remaining amount!)

How do you buy medicine on Meituan?

I used to use my KT Dict C->E app, but many foreigners use PLECO, to look up the Chinese names of medicines in English.

Type “ibuprofren” in to the English-Chinese dictionary.
On KT Dict C-E, tap on the Chinese, and then on the little wrench in the upper right-hand corner.

Tap “Copy 布洛芬“ and open Meituan.
Tap on the little mouse over the word “外卖“ (waimai, which means food delivery).

Copy and paste the Chinese into the Search
Choose the closest or cheapest option!

In both Hangzhou and Beijing, pharmacy delivery is particularly fast. I’m not sure why but I love it!

*I am NOT a doctor or in any way licensed to distribute medicine, so please make your own responsible choices! This is information shared for entertainment only ;). *

Disclaimer done, please pay close attention to the dosing. Both common forms of ibuprofen here come in stronger doses than the generic red ibuprofen pills that I take in the US–usually 300mg or 400 mg a pill. In addition, I always eat before taking medicine–thus the inspiration for the Short that led to this post!

That’s it! In the future, I’ll share how to order Zyrtec, other allergy meds and birth control. Click or tap here to sign up for future post alerts, and also get the free Quick Reference Guide to China, if you so desire!

What is Meituan, the famous Chinese food delivery app?

Can you find ibuprofen in China?

What is Meituan (美团)?

How do you buy medicine on Meituan?

What is Meituan (美团)?

How do you buy medicine on Meituan?

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