China metro payment by city
Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu have documented foreign-card gate payments; the table below separates those services from QR codes and ticket purchases, using only official sources.
Scroll sideways for sources and notes. “Yes” means the cited source documents that method, with the restrictions in notes; it does not mean every foreign card or visitor account works. “Not stated” means “Not stated by the official source,” not “No.”
| city | operator | foreign_bank_card_tap_at_gate | alipay_qr | wechat_qr | ticket_machine_foreign_card | transport_card_option | source_url | last_checked | notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beijing | Beijing Subway (network) | Yes | Yes | Not stated | Yes | Beijing Pass | Official source 1Official source 2 | 2026-10-31 | The upgrade notice confirms UnionPay, Mastercard, Visa, JCB and American Express gate payments. The visitor guide confirms Alipay Travel > Metro and card-capable ticket machines; accepted cards vary by station/line. Its older tap-card FAQ has not caught up with the upgrade notice. |
| Shanghai | Shanghai Metro / Shanghai Shentong Metro Group | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not stated | Shanghai Public Transportation Card; Shanghai Pass | Official source 1 | 2026-10-31 | Eligible UnionPay, Visa, Mastercard, American Express and JCB cards can tap at gates. The guide confirms international-card ticket purchases at staffed service centers, not at ticket vending machines. QR access uses Metro Daduhui or metro services in Alipay/WeChat; account and card eligibility still apply. |
| Guangzhou | Guangzhou Metro Group | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not stated | Not stated by the official source | Official source 1Official source 2 | 2026-10-31 | Overseas-issued contactless Mastercard, American Express, Visa and JCB cards can use marked gates at all stations. The transport bureau documents Alipay and WeChat transport-code services for inbound visitors. The reviewed text does not identify a named transport card or confirm foreign-card payment at vending machines. |
| Chengdu | Chengdu Rail Transit | Yes | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated by the official source | Official source 1Official source 2 | 2026-10-31 | The government-hosted launch report lists overseas Visa, Mastercard and American Express chip contactless cards for direct gate entry across the network. It also documents staffed-window POS purchases. The city government reports continued overseas-card use in October 2026. Neither source confirms vending-machine foreign-card payments or a particular QR service. |
| Hangzhou | Not stated by the official source | Not stated | Yes | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated by the official source | Official source 1 | 2026-10-31 | The municipal guide explicitly covers overseas Alipay users scanning bus and subway gates after linking a supported international card. Foreign-wallet payment at ticket machines is documented; this does not establish direct payment with a foreign bank card. The source does not name the metro operator. |
| Chongqing | Chongqing Rail Transit | Not stated | Yes | Yes | Not stated | Not stated by the official source | Official source 1 | 2026-10-31 | The operator guidance reproduced by the municipal government recommends WeChat and Alipay ride codes and the Yuchangxing app for gate entry. The source does not confirm foreign-card eligibility, direct bank-card gate payment or ticket-machine card acceptance. |
| Wuhan | Wuhan Metro Group | Not stated | Yes | Yes | Not stated | Not stated by the official source | Official source 1 | 2026-10-31 | The transport bureau documents Alipay, WeChat and UnionPay app ride codes for gate entry. It does not confirm that a visitor account funded by a foreign card can activate each code; it does not document direct foreign-card gate or vending-machine payments. |
| Nanjing | Nanjing Metro | Not stated | Yes | Yes | Not stated | Yikatong physical/NFC transport card; China T-Union cards | Official source 1Official source 2 | 2026-10-31 | The municipal sources document Alipay ride codes, Yikatong/China T-Union cards, and the Chengshitong WeChat mini-program code. They do not confirm foreign-card-funded QR eligibility or direct foreign-card gate/vending-machine payments. No temporary discount or old transfer arrangement is adopted. |
Read the payment columns separately
Card acceptance at a staffed ticket counter does not establish card acceptance at a vending machine or gate. Likewise, a transport QR service is not a general payment QR code: the table records a documented ride-code service without assuming that a foreign-card-funded account can activate it. Each row’s notes carry the limits of its cited evidence.
For setup steps, read China metro tickets and payments, Alipay with a foreign card and WeChat Pay with a foreign card.
How we check / Sources
We read operator guidance and municipal government or transport-authority pages, checking each payment field independently. A missing statement stays “Not stated”; cashier POS acceptance, bank-card-funded wallets and direct bank-card taps are never treated as interchangeable. Operator names use the public system or group name in the sources, rather than a list of every line’s operating company.
Sources for every row appear in source_url and below, all checked 2026-10-31. Where a source is older, notes retain its scope. In Beijing, the explicit card-upgrade notice takes precedence over the visitor guide’s older card FAQ.
- Official source 1: english.beijing.gov.cn — checked 2026-10-31.
- Official source 2: english.beijing.gov.cn — checked 2026-10-31.
- Official source 3: english.shanghai.gov.cn — checked 2026-10-31.
- Official source 4: sfj.gz.gov.cn — checked 2026-10-31.
- Official source 5: www.gz.gov.cn — checked 2026-10-31.
- Official source 6: jrj.wuhan.gov.cn — checked 2026-10-31.
- Official source 7: www.chengdu.gov.cn — checked 2026-10-31.
- Official source 8: www.ehangzhou.gov.cn — checked 2026-10-31.
- Official source 9: www.cq.gov.cn — checked 2026-10-31.
- Official source 10: jtj.wuhan.gov.cn — checked 2026-10-31.
- Official source 11: www.nanjing.gov.cn — checked 2026-10-31.
- Official source 12: www.nanjing.gov.cn — checked 2026-10-31.
Xi’an is omitted because this review did not verify a sufficiently specific official payment source. This edition covers the eight cities in the table.
Corrections: hello@pandawander.com. Include the city, payment method and official evidence.
Change log
- 2026-10-31 — first edition published, with 8 cities.
Cite this
PandaWander Editorial Team. “China metro payment by city.” PandaWander, 2026-10-31. https://pandawander.com/data/china-metro-payment-by-city/.
Download CSV
- metro-payments.csv — UTF-8; the same columns and rows as the table.
Our table compilation is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Credit PandaWander and link back to this page; indicate any changes. Linked official source material remains subject to its own terms.