For visitors to mainland China. Last updated: October 4, 2026.
If you want food delivered while travelling in China, Meituan is a useful app to get familiar with. These six questions cover the practical details that visitors often find confusing: switching the language, registering a phone number, entering a hotel address, communicating with a courier, collecting an order and paying.
Before your first order: register your account, prepare a payment method and save your hotel’s address in Chinese. After ordering, keep an eye on the messages in the app.
1. Why is my Meituan app in Chinese? How do I switch it to English?
In the main Meituan app, open the language settings and choose English. If your app starts in Chinese, follow the three screenshots below from left to right.
- On the home screen, tap 我的 (“Me”) at the bottom right.
- On your profile screen, tap the 设置 (“Settings”) gear at the top right.
- Tap 语言切换/Language, choose English and confirm the change if prompted.
Open the three screenshots — swipe to see each step on mobile
These screenshots are from the main Meituan app. The separate Meituan Waimai app and the Meituan mini programs inside WeChat or Alipay may have different menus. English translation makes browsing easier, but some text or images may still need your phone’s translation tools.
2. Can I use Meituan without a Chinese phone number?
A Chinese phone number is not always necessary, but Meituan needs to support your number and you need to receive its verification texts. If your country code is available on the registration screen, you can try your usual number. Check with your mobile provider that you can receive SMS while in China.
Internet access and receiving SMS are two separate things. Many travel eSIMs are data-only and do not include a phone number that can receive verification texts. You may be able to keep your home SIM active for SMS while using a travel eSIM for data, depending on your provider and roaming settings.
Try registering before you leave home, then check that you can place an order after arriving in China. Receiving a verification text does not guarantee that a courier’s call will reach your overseas number. For more on the difference between mobile data and phone service, see the China eSIM guide.
3. How should I enter my hotel’s delivery address?
English translation can make the restaurant menu and ordering screens much easier to use. The delivery address still needs particular care: your courier must be able to identify the correct hotel, branch and entrance.
At check-in, ask the front desk to type the hotel’s Chinese name, branch name and complete address into your phone’s Notes app, or send them to you as text. You can then copy and paste the details when searching for the hotel in Meituan.
- Search for the hotel using the Chinese name supplied by the front desk.
- Check the branch and map location carefully, especially for chain hotels with several properties nearby.
- Add the requested delivery details, such as your room number or instructions to leave the order at the front desk.
Your phone’s location can help, particularly when the hotel occupies its own building. Still, check that the app has selected the right property and entrance. A location pin alone may be unclear in a shared building or a large complex.
You can copy and paste Chinese addresses and delivery notes without typing them yourself. Adding a Chinese keyboard to your phone before the trip can also be useful.
4. What if the courier or restaurant calls me?
The key questions are whether your number can receive the call and whether you can communicate with the caller. Having an eSIM rather than a physical SIM does not, by itself, determine this. Calls through the delivery platform may not reach some overseas numbers.
Leave a short note in Chinese when ordering and watch the order’s message or contact screen. This note asks the restaurant and courier to use in-app messages where possible:
您好，我是外国游客，不会说中文。请优先通过美团App发消息联系我，谢谢。
Meaning: Hello, I’m a visitor from overseas and don’t speak Chinese. Please contact me by message in the Meituan app where possible. Thank you.
If you know that you cannot answer phone calls, use this more specific note:
您好，我目前无法接听电话。请通过美团App发消息联系我，谢谢。
Meaning: Hello, I cannot answer phone calls at the moment. Please contact me by message in the Meituan app. Thank you.
A note cannot guarantee that nobody will call. If the courier is having trouble finding you, keep checking the app and ask the hotel’s front desk to help if needed.
5. How do I collect my food at the hotel?
Ask the front desk where food deliveries should go and whether the hotel can send an order to your room. Some hotels use delivery robots, while others ask guests to collect food at reception or a designated pickup point.
If your hotel uses a robot, the process may look like this:
- The courier leaves the order at the hotel’s designated delivery point.
- Hotel staff load the food into the robot and send it to your room.
- The hotel or robot notifies you when it arrives, for example through your room’s telephone.
- Open your door and follow the instructions on the robot’s screen to collect your order.
If the hotel does not offer room delivery, collect your food at reception or the pickup point it specifies. Including your room number does not automatically mean that the courier will deliver to your door.
If reception is the agreed delivery point, you can use this note. Replace the blank with your room number before adding it to the order.
您好，请送到酒店前台，我的房间号是____。请通过美团App告诉我餐已送到，谢谢。
Meaning: Hello, please deliver to the hotel’s front desk. My room number is ____. Please let me know in the Meituan app when the food has arrived. Thank you.
Check the courier’s messages to see where the order has been left. When collecting it, confirm the order details or name so that you take the right bag.
6. Which payment method should I use?
Start with the payment options actually shown for your order. Set up Alipay or WeChat Pay with a supported card before you need to order, and keep another payment option available if possible.
A payment can fail even when the overseas bank card linked to your wallet is working normally. Read the error message and try another supported card or payment method if necessary.
If the checkout offers Apple Pay and accepts a card in your Apple Wallet, you can try it. However, an Apple Pay button does not mean that every overseas card will work: the merchant also needs to accept your card’s payment network. The UnionPay logo in the screenshot is a useful reminder to check the requirements for the particular option displayed.
For help setting up your wallets and preparing backup payment methods, read How to Pay in China: Alipay, WeChat Pay, Cards and Cash.
App details and useful official references
App screens and hotel arrangements can change. These screenshots show the examples used for this guide. You can also check Meituan’s App Store listing, Meituan’s country-code selector and Apple’s Apple Pay acceptance guidance.