Does Uber work in China?
No, and a VPN won't change that. Uber sold its Chinese operation to Didi in 2016 and has had no drivers on the mainland since. The app may open, especially through a VPN, but no car will ever come. The answer is Didi, which has an English interface and accepts foreign Visa and Mastercard. Uber does operate normally in Hong Kong and Macau.
What actually happens when you try
Whether Uber's servers are reachable is beside the point. Open the app in Shanghai through a VPN and you'll see a map with no cars on it, or a message that Uber isn't available in this area. There are no drivers because there is no Uber China: Didi bought the whole operation in 2016, and Uber walked away with a stake in Didi instead. This is the rare "does it work in China" question where the firewall isn't the problem and a VPN isn't the fix.
What to use instead: Didi
- Install Didi before you fly (search "DiDi" on the App Store; it's on the international store, and it's also a mini-program inside WeChat and Alipay). It has an English mode, and you can register with a foreign phone number.
- Add a foreign Visa or Mastercard in the app, or link it to Alipay or WeChat Pay, both of which now accept international cards. Set this up at home; it's harder from a taxi rank.
- Apple Maps and Amap can both hand off to Didi for ride-hailing, and Apple Maps works in China without a VPN, which makes it a decent way to point at a destination and request a car.
- Regular taxis are everywhere and cheap, and the driver's phone will be running Didi anyway. Have the destination in Chinese characters on your screen.
Where a VPN does matter
Didi itself works fine with no VPN; it's a Chinese app on Chinese networks. The VPN is for everything around the ride: the confirmation email in Gmail, the meeting point someone sent you on WhatsApp, the address you saved in Google Maps. That's the split Traveler's VPN is built for. It routes Gmail, WhatsApp, and Google through a private server with an IP only you use, while Didi, Alipay, WeChat, and Apple Maps stay direct and fast, because sending a Chinese ride-hailing app through a foreign IP makes it slow and suspicious.
Uber credits and passes are worthless on the mainland but work the moment you cross into Hong Kong, where Uber operates normally.
Frequently asked
Does Didi have an English version?
Yes. The Didi app switches to English in settings, accepts foreign phone numbers for registration, and shows destinations in both languages. It's the mainland's Uber in every practical sense.
Can I pay for Didi with a foreign credit card?
Yes. Didi accepts international Visa and Mastercard directly, or you can link it through Alipay or WeChat Pay, which both accept foreign cards now.
Does Uber work in Hong Kong or Macau?
Yes. Uber operates normally in Hong Kong and Macau; only the mainland has no Uber service.
Will a VPN make Uber work in China?
No. The app may load through a VPN, but there are no Uber drivers on the mainland. The VPN is for Gmail, WhatsApp, and Google Maps; Didi works without it.
