Getting Discounts and Deals in China (2026)

Meituan is the main food delivery and local services app, and Dianping is its review and deal sibling. Between them you will find delivery coupons, vouchers for specific meals and group-buy offers at restaurants, spas, cinemas and more. Prices shown inside the app are often lower than walk-in prices, because the restaurant sells set deals that locals pre-purchase.

For a visitor, the catch is redemption. A voucher bought in the app is usually tied to an account and shown as a QR code at the restaurant. If you cannot create the account, you cannot use the deal. Dianping is still useful without a deal: ratings and photos help you choose where to take a supplier to dinner.

Pinduoduo is known for very low prices, often on unbranded goods, and for group-buy mechanics. Taobao and Tmall have shop coupons, platform vouchers and big annual sales. Two to know are 618, around mid-year, and Double 11 on 11 November. Both have been the biggest sales events for years, though the exact mechanics of discounts change.

• Prices that look low may be the starting price, or require a coupon, or depend on an option you have not selected. Read the final price at checkout.
• Sale periods can mean slower delivery because of volume.
• Check seller reputation. A cheap price from a poor shop is rarely a bargain. See the Taobao guide.

Payment apps regularly run promotions: cashback, small discounts at partner shops and vouchers. Some promotions have been aimed at visitors, such as offers on tourist-friendly merchants, but many are for users with local bank cards or verified Chinese accounts. Foreign cards generally earn fewer offers, and terms change quickly, so do not plan your budget around them.

A realistic approach: pay with whichever method works reliably and treat any discount as a bonus. Also note that some merchants charge a small fee for foreign-card payments, so check at the till.

The biggest deals in China are often new-user offers: free first meals, big first-ride coupons or heavily discounted first orders. These usually require a fresh account with a verified phone number, and often an identity or payment check. For foreign visitors this is the main obstacle. A foreign number may be rejected, or the account may be created but not eligible for the offer.

Hotels and rides are where most of your budget goes, and also where discounts matter least relative to convenience. Hotel apps and platforms show different prices for the same room, so compare before booking, and ask whether your company has a corporate rate with a chain. For rides, DiDi occasionally offers coupons, but reliability and speed are more important than small savings on an early factory run.

Where deals are worth it:

• A long stay in one city, where a small saving repeats every day.
• Group dinners with suppliers, where a group-buy set can cover many people.
• Bulk orders of supplies or samples during a sale, if returns are possible.

Where they are not: one-off airport transfers, urgent orders, and anything for which a missing fapiao would cost you more than the saving.