How to Use Meituan as a Foreigner (Yes, You Actually Can)

A few years ago, a friend we visited in Dali, China let us in on a little China hack that changed how we travel China forever. It's name is Meituan.

The app is essentially China's super-app for local deals. Restaurants, cafés, gyms, spas, tourist attractions... they all throw discounted bundles on there that are often dramatically cheaper than walking in off the street. Think Groupon but actually good, and built into the daily life of hundreds of millions of people.

And yes, foreigners can use Meituan. And once you figure it out, you'll wonder how you ever visited China without it.

I've been going back and forth to China for years, and Meituan has been in my rotation the whole time... alongside its sister app Dianping, which does basically the same thing. On a recent trip to Shenzhen, Fabio and I decided to do a little experiment: buy everything we could through Meituan for a day. We saved 40 euros in a single day. From coffee to food to a gym session, all discounted. That's not a typo.

Getting set up takes a little legwork upfront, but once you're in, you're in. Here's exactly how to do it.

Why You Should Use Meituan

Let's get one thing straight: prices in China are already low by Western standards. Meituan makes them even lower.

The deals on there are legitimately good... we're talking 20–50% off at popular chains, bundle deals that include extras you wouldn't get at the counter, and flash offers that disappear within hours. Luckin Coffee, for example, has near-constant promotions on Meituan that bring already-cheap coffee down to basically nothing.

Beyond just cafés, you can find:

• Restaurant meal deals: set menus and combo packages at a fraction of in-person prices. What we love about this is we find restaurants through the app that we would have normally walked by on the street without thinking about it
• Gym and fitness passes: single-day passes at gyms that would otherwise require a membership inquiry
• Spa and massage packages: heavily discounted, especially in bigger cities
• Tourist attractions and experiences: entry tickets and activity bundles

If you're spending more than a few days in any Chinese city, not using Meituan is genuinely leaving money on the table.

What You Need Before You Start (Prerequisites)

There are a few things to get in order before you can use Meituan as a foreigner. Don't skip these... the app won't work without them and it is just a little bit of legwork that you likely would have had to do anyway.

1. A Chinese Phone Number

This is the big one. Meituan requires a Chinese number to receive the OTP (one-time password) when you sign up, as this won't work with a foreign number.

At major airports like Shenzhen Bao'an, Shanghai Pudong, or Beijing Capital Airport, you'll often find China Mobile and China Telecom desks right in the arrivals hall. Pick up a SIM there if you can... it's the easiest option.

If you miss that, get an eSIM first just to have data... we have a full guide to the cheapest eSIMs for travelers if you're not sure which one to grab... then head to a larger branch of one of the major carriers in the city. Key word: larger branch. The tiny kiosks won't be able to set up a SIM for a foreigner. Ask your hotel or hostel where the nearest main branch is.

2. WeChat

Sign up for WeChat before you arrive in China if you can. The good news: you don't need a Chinese number to create a WeChat account... your foreign number works fine for registration.

This is actually the approach I use. I've noticed that if you register with a Chinese number and then let that number lapse after leaving the country, you can lose access to your WeChat account entirely. Keeping a foreign number tied to WeChat avoids that headache.

3. WeChat Pay with an International Card

WeChat Pay is how you'll actually pay for things on Meituan. The great news is that WeChat Pay now supports international credit and debit cards... so you can set this up before you even land.

Go into WeChat → Me → Services → WeChat Pay → Cards, and add your card. Do this at home before your trip, so you're not scrambling to figure it out in China.

How to Sign Up for Meituan

Meituan lives inside WeChat as a mini program... you don't even need to download a separate app.

1. Open WeChat and tap the search bar at the top.
2. Type "Meituan"... you'll see a yellow logo with the characters 美团 appear in the results.
3. Tap it to open the mini program. Think of it as an app-within-an-app.
4. The next time you search, Meituan will show up in your recent history, so it's easy to reopen.

5. Once you're inside, look for a translate button... it's usually in the top right corner (three dots). Tap around until you find it. The UI will shift quite a bit with translation on, but there are lots of images to guide you.

6. Sign up... you'll be prompted for your phone number at some point (perhaps when you first open the app, perhaps when you go and search, perhaps when you go to make a purchase). Enter your Chinese number, receive the OTP, and you're in. Once logged in, it generally keeps you logged in, so you won't need to do this again.

How to Find Something on Meituan

Once you're in the app, Meituan will likely already know your location and start surfacing nearby deals. If your location looks off, tap the place marker in the top left and search for your city manually.

Let's say you want coffee. You can either:

• Type "coffee" in the search bar, or
• Browse by category: tap on 'Delicious Food' (美食) or scroll through the food and drink categories until you find something that looks right

When you find a venue that interests you, tap into it. Inside you'll see a list of deals and bundles. Luckin Coffee, for example, usually has stacks of promotions — buy-one-get-ones, seasonal discounts, bundle deals.

You'll also see an address inside the venue listing... tap this to confirm you're looking at the right branch before buying. I've made the mistake before where I've purchased from a different branch several kilometers away, because I didn't check 😬.

How to Buy Something

Found something you want? Here's how the purchase flow works:

1. Tap on the deal or item.
2. An orange button at the bottom of the screen will guide you through (usually it says "Rush to Buy" when translated)... after this it'll ask for quantity, any customizations, etc.
3. If you can't change the quantity (this is common with "first-time user" gym passes, for instance), it just means you can only buy that deal once per account. That's by design.
4. After hitting another button, "Submit order", you'll be redirected to WeChat Pay to complete the purchase. If you set up an international card in the prerequisites step, this should go through without any issues.

How to Redeem What You've Bought

This is the part that trips people up... including me, at first. Paying doesn't mean redeeming. They're two separate steps.

To find your purchased items:

• Go to My Own. (the person icon in the bottom right-hand corner from the main screen) and look for My Order.
• Find the item and tap through.

Now here's where it gets a little quirky: every venue redeems differently, which is honestly a bit funny. A few common scenarios:

Luckin Coffee: After tapping through your purchase, Meituan will redirect you into a separate Luckin Coffee mini program. Your offer gets applied there automatically, and you complete the order through Luckin's own system. The shop receives the order electronically and makes your drink.

Restaurants and gyms : Most of the time you'll be shown a QR code. Show it to the staff, and they'll scan it. Job done.

When in doubt, just tell the person at the counter that you purchased something on Meituan (showing them the app helps). They deal with this constantly and will walk you through it.

Things to Watch Out For

• Always verify the venue is open before buying. A few times I've been close to pulling the trigger on a deal, only to notice the restaurant was closed for renovation... or had shut down completely. Meituan listings don't always update immediately. A quick scroll through recent reviews or a glance at the opening hours will save you the hassle of trying to get a refund. It's rare, but it's worth the 30-second check.
• Prices might be inflated directly in the app. I noticed that especially for gyms, the original prices are super high for a day pass. In the screenshot below, for example, the original price is 200 RMB, and it is discounted to 14.9 RMB. I haven't seen this as much for restaurants, but it does happen where they inflate the original prices in the app to make it seem like you are getting a better deal. Either way, you will likely be getting a better deal, but if you want to be a bit more fastidious, you can cross-check what is on the menu with what is written in Meituan.

Meituan is genuinely one of the best tools you can have in China as a foreigner. A little setup friction upfront, and then you're unlocking real savings every single day you're there. Set it up before you land if you can, and thank yourself later.

If you're heading to China and sorting out your full toolkit, check out our guides on the best apps for digital nomads and 10 money-saving tips to squeeze even more value out of your travels.