I don't consider signing up for chinese surveillance system with foreign bank accounts an acceptable solution.
How about cash?
How about cash?
> First it was a shopkeeper at the Great Wall who wouldn't take cash for a bottle of water.
> "Ten years ago it was cash for everything. Now it's WeChat for everything," Ms. Sjogren said. "I'm getting used to being a dinosaur in China."
> Foreigners aren't the only ones bewildered by China's fast transition to a cashless society. "I can't even eat!" said Gong Cheng, a 61-year-old retired Shenzhen auto mechanic, who has resorted to asking strangers to pay for his takeout noodles and then giving them money.
> A few weeks later, Mr. Copley, 25, was stranded outside a bar at 4 a.m. He finally begged a Chinese couple to call him a taxi on a local ride-hailing app and repaid them in cash for the fare.
See how difficult it is? Perhaps in rural areas, it is easier. But in the cities, everyone has a phone. And, everyone needs WeChat.
Lives in a city and doesn't seem to have a phone; at least he doesn't have access to mobile payments. Note that what he can't pay for with cash are takeout noodles, the kind you order online. I bet he pays cash for everything else.
Even in the cities, not everyone has a phone, simply because not everyone can afford one. The less pricey something is, the more likely you'll be able to pay with cash.