Do I need a VPN in Xingyi? Will my phone even work when I get there?
Your phone will work, but China is a different internet. Google, Instagram and WhatsApp are blocked on Chinese mobile networks and hotel WiFi. The simplest setup for a short trip: keep international roaming on, or run a travel eSIM. Either way your connection tunnels home, and everything works as normal. If you'd rather buy a Chinese SIM, install a VPN *before* you arrive. VPN websites are blocked inside China, so this cannot be done after landing. One more thing many visitors forget: a VPN only fixes the internet, not payments. Payments matter more than most people expect. Your foreign credit card will not swipe in ordinary shops and restaurants — the system here is QR payment (Alipay or WeChat Pay) or cash. Both apps accept foreign cards these days, but plenty of travellers only discover theirs isn't set up properly while standing at a counter with a queue behind them. Sort it before you land, and carry some yuan in notes as backup; ATMs at the big banks (Bank of China, ICBC) take foreign cards. Once connectivity and payments are sorted, Xingyi is easy. And if something still gets stuck while you're here, that's exactly what the local team behind visitxingyi.com does — message us and a real person sorts it out.
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