Here’s a tour of WeChat, the greatest mobile app in the world
One app to rule them all
This is not an advertisement for WeChat (I wish I’d get paid for this haha), but rather a demonstration to the rest of the world of how uniquely consolidated China’s digital landscape has become, all through this one mobile app.
I believe that WeChat is one of the most user-friendly applications I have ever used, which I feel is something not expected by many people of Chinese apps. It is ubiquitous in China, and one more thing that makes it so interesting is that it is so open to outsiders using it.
For example, while foreigners have a hard time opening a bank account in China, they can automatically start accepting payments through WeChat right from the first time they use the app (the money stays within the app as “wechat money”), and use it to make payments to others. You don’t even need to have a bank account. Compare it to Alibaba’s “Alipay” service, which can be a pain for foreigners to set up.
The Red Packet deserves special mention. It is very similar to the ‘Transfer Money’ feature, but it’s influenced by the Chinese tradition of giving red envelopes of money to your friends, family and relatives. You have to open the packet to see what’s inside. Don’t take this feature lightly — you will see it being used ALL THE TIME in China. When someone sends a red packet in a group chat, the members of that group have to open it as quickly as they can (because you can only open the packet a certain number of times decided by the sender), to get random amounts of money from the packet. It’s like a fun game on days like the New Year, when everyone is sending red envelopes in a group chat and everyone is also rushing to open them!
