Reference News Network, July 22 report: The Spanish newspaper "El País" website published an article titled "If You Want to Tour China, You Just Need to Master One Language: QR Code" on July 16. The reporter is Hector Llanos Martinez. The full text is as follows:

The Chinese railway system is continuously developing, not just in terms of the increase in mileage. The Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway, which runs between Beijing and Shanghai, has a speed of over 350 km/h. It connects two popular tourist cities and attracts many tourists.

Every time the high-speed train stops at a station, the staff will walk through the carriage corridors with meals. These meals are not from the train's dining car, but food ordered by passengers through mobile applications during the journey. The delivery address marked on the mobile application is not a residence, but the train number, carriage number, and the passenger's seat number. This is one of the many examples of China's modernization and the tremendous technological progress it has achieved. Some areas in China have development levels comparable to those of large cities in Japan and South Korea.

"Now, the biggest obstacle for Western tourists traveling in China is not language or culture, but technology," said Javier Fernández, director of a Spanish travel agency. The travel agency where Fernández works not only overcomes some technical obstacles by customizing itineraries, but also provides tour guides in Spanish, English, and French.

In China, QR codes are indispensable in daily life, whether it is for taking public transportation or paying in almost all stores. This situation has not yet occurred in the West, but in this Eastern country, this encrypted system has risen with the popularity of smartphones. We asked the Chinese tourism authorities a question: What should tourists prepare first when visiting China, apart from their passport? Their answer was clear: two mobile applications that cannot be ignored: Alipay and WeChat.

Chinese people use QR codes for shopping payments, identity verification, logging into social platforms, and accessing various information, some of which are essential for foreign tourists exploring China. For example, taking the impressive maglev train in Shanghai. This train starts from Longyang Road Metro Station in the west and ends at Pudong International Airport in the east, covering about 30 kilometers, with a design maximum speed of 430 km/h, making it the world's first commercial demonstration operation magnetic levitation line.

According to a report released by the China Payment and Clearing Association in 2022, 95.7% of mobile payment users most often complete payments by scanning or presenting a code, and 52.6% of mobile payment users most often use code payments when taking buses or subways. The use of bank cards and cash has been significantly reduced. Foreign tourists had better learn to use their own QR codes first.

These mobile applications are also very useful for purchasing tickets to major tourist attractions, such as the Temple of Heaven and the must-visit Great Wall.

At the Hongqiao Market near the Temple of Heaven, haggling is essential, whether buying a power bank or a traditional fan. Merchants can assist customers to pay via QR codes in two ways: one is to scan the merchant's payment QR code using the customer's mobile application, and the other is for the merchant to scan the payment QR code generated by the customer's mobile application.

WeChat is China's version of WhatsApp, and in addition to instant messaging, it has added more and more functions. Alipay is also friendly to foreigners, it is a multifunctional application.

During a trip to China, these applications are good companions for foreign tourists. Applications that cooperate with Chinese tourism websites allow you to conveniently purchase electronic train tickets needed for taking high-speed trains. (Translated/ Tian Ce)

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7529725515738006059/

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