China Archives – My365 World

Living Cashless In China: One Video Sums It All Up

Is China slowly going cashless? In this country like no other, everything seems possible.

If you have already traveled to China, you may have found it almost impossible to use a foreign credit-card. For the Chinese citizens or the foreign residents, the main forms of payment were either cash or, until recently, the state-backed payment giant, UnionPay. It is therefore no big surprise that the country started to look at alternative ways of payment.

In 2017, almost 50% of Chinese citizens owned a smartphone. This number was largely due to the arrival, on the market, of more affordable, locally produced smartphones. And in the same way WhatsApp has changed the way we communicate, WeChat for China has become the essence of the communication in the Middle Kingdom. But very uniquely, WeChat is everything by itself: a social network, a tool to communicate, a geo-locator, a tool to meet people, a life style, a micro-blogging system, a way to pay for transport, and much much more. Now the social platform is about to make almost every payment possible. Would you like to order your breakfast on line and pay for it with your social app? How about sending money to your nanny?

Could living cashless become a reality?

If you are not intrigued yet, you may want to watch this video by Mamahuhu. This YouTube / Youku comedy show from Shanghai has now entertained expats and locals for the last few years. Their sketches put face to face the archetypes of Chinese and “Western” cultures.

In this quirky video, Mamahuhu presents their own take on a day in Shanghai, with just a phone.

If you are heading to China soon, is it time to consider using WeChat?

City lights in China

With so many gigantic cities, most of them looking and feeling like permanent construction sites, China may leave your photographic eye a little frustrated. You do have to go a long way to find those amazing and picturesque landscapes the brochure guides made you dream about. If you are traveling, you will find your way to picturesque Guilin or Sanya. But if you are an expat, your daily life is likely to be in one of the major cities, mostly an industrial one.

China has a lot to offer to the explorer and the photographer, especially on the street side. A few minutes of walking along the streets of any Chinese city will make you feel very overwhelmed: crowd, movement, speed, smells, and a myriad of visual contrasts. Street photography is not an easy exercise, especially if, like me, and unlike the Chinese, you feel self conscious at the idea of pointing your phone or camera to people’s faces and on-going activities.

Summer night on a street of Beijing vs winter summer night in Shenyang

So here is a quick thought for you if you come to visit the Middle Kingdom. Step out in the city at night. I do it regularly with my favourite Hipstamatic Lenses, because the filters add to the magic of the street lights.

Both above and under ground, electric lights and LED

The bright Chinese LED lights will bring you all sorts of sights. You can follow a gritty trail, or step into scenes that will, no doubt, remind you of Blade Runner.

Street vendor in winter in North China

Late night street view in Hong Kong