How to Order Food Delivery in China as a Foreigner

With 1.4 billion highly motivated and very busy people, life in China, especially in uber-modern cities like Shenzhen or Shanghai, can be incredibly fast paced and high-stress. Whether you’re studying or working in China, you may find yourself caught up in the midst of this high-pressure society, and have no time to cook your meals. But don’t worry! Day-to-day life in China is incredibly convenient, even if you don’t understand the language.

Imagine this: It’s 8 PM, and you’re studying for tomorrow’s Chinese exam. Suddenly, you start craving Shanghai’s delicious Xiao Long Bao. It’s all you can think about, but you still have so much Hanzi to practice and idioms to memorize…

You open your phone, press some buttons, and boom, your Xiao Long Bao has been delivered to your door, all in 30 minutes.

How? Read ahead to learn how to order food delivery in China as a foreigner!

What Are the Best Food Delivery Apps for Foreigners?

In China, ordering food through apps has become more commonplace than cooking. The best part is that orders are instantaneous, and the food always arrives at your doorstep in less than 1 hour!

The two most popular apps for foreigners and locals alike are Meituan Waimai (美团外卖), with its yellow kangaroo logo, and Eleme (饿了么) which literally means “you hungry?”. Almost all restaurants in China, from small street vendors, high-end restaurants, to fast-food chains, are available to order through both of these apps.

How to Use Food Delivery Apps (Meituan Waimai/Eleme) as a Foreigner?

Food delivery apps in China can be accessed as a WeChat mini-program, or downloaded as a separate app. For the sake of this demonstration, we will be showing you how to navigate Meituan Waimai, as the user experience for Maituan Waimai and Eleme are pretty much identical.

1. Register for an account

Once you have the app, you can login with your WeChat account, or with your phone number. Once successfully registered, you’ll be taken to the main menu of the app. Most food delivery apps in China follow the same structure, their interface is intuitive and easy to learn, even for foreigners who can’t read Chinese!

2. Navigating the interface

Head to the waimai delivery section of the app. For Meituan, it’s the one with the yellow kangaroo logo. Next, you’ll see many different categories you can browse through, such as food, sweet drinks, supermarkets, fruits & vegetables, and even medicine! You’ll also see a variety of different sub-categories for food such as breakfast, lunch, dinner, coffee, and many more.

Entering into any of the categories will take you into a filtered list of stores close to your address. If you don’t have the slightest idea of what to eat, you can just skip all of these categories and pretend they don’t exist. Instead, scroll down just a little and you’ll find a list of all of the restaurants near you.

On the flipside, if you have a specific food in mind, you can also search for it directly on the search bar.

3. Choosing and finalizing your order

Once you’ve chosen a restaurant, you’ll be taken directly to their menu interface. From here, you can scroll through their selection of food, which includes pictures and prices. Note that some restaurants have a minimum purchase requirement.

After you’re done selecting your food, you’ll be taken to the payment interface, where you will need to enter your address and choose the time of your food’s arrival. After that, all that’s left to do is pay, which can be done through the app. The two most popular payment methods are through Wechat Pay or Alipay.

That’s it! Your food is now on the way! You can track your order on the built-in map, which details when your food will be sent out, and the real-time location of the courier taking your order.

4. Let’s discuss potential problems!

More often than not, your food will arrive quickly at your doorstep without a hitch. However, there may be unexpected issues that occur during the delivery process. These are some common ones, and how you can resolve them:

1. Your food item is out of stock

Sometimes, the restaurant will forget to update on the app that a food item is no longer available. But don’t worry, even if you already paid for that item, they will notify and reimburse you. This can be done through the app, or the restaurant might give you the cash-equivalent through the courier, while the rest of your order will be delivered to you as usual. You can also cancel the order simply by clicking the cancel button on the app. The money will be fully refunded back to your wallet.

2. The food takes too long to arrive

Food delivery apps in China will show the whereabouts of your food in detail. You can check the real-time tracker on the app to see the status of your delivery. Here, you can see where the delay is happening. Did the driver already pick up the food, or is it still stuck in the kitchen?

In either case, the phone numbers of both the restaurant and the driver are displayed on the app, and you can call them to ask about the delay. Once the waiting time has exceeded the initial estimated delivery time, you can also cancel the order.

3. You receive the wrong food

Sometimes, you might receive the wrong order, or are missing a food item. For a wrong order, you can call the restaurant and ask for a refund. From here, the restaurant will give you a full reimbursement, and send another courier to take the order back. Sometimes they might even let you keep the wrong order.

For a missing food item, you will usually get reimbursed just for the missing item.

Alternative for a full English experience

If you find the language barrier too difficult, or perhaps you just want to mindlessly order your food after a long day, without having to decipher Hanzi, then you can download a food delivery app called Sherpas. The app is in English and has a lot of Western restaurants to order from. However, prices are higher and food selections are more limited compared to Meituan Waimai and Eleme.

Learn more about China’s food culture with us!

• Want to know what an international student in China eats every day? Read this article on China Student Life.
• Looking for halal food options in China? Check out this article on Chinese Halal Delights!
• Looking for vegetarian food in China? Check out this article on Vegetarian food in China