A local friend in China

Your local friend in China.

Follow your curiosity, not the checklist.

No app to download, no account to make. Kora lives in your chat — hand-picked city by city — and answers like the friend you wish you had on the ground.

Chat on Telegram Free · no sign-up · replies in seconds

The friction

The wall every visitor hits.

China runs on apps no visitor can use — so they fall back to the tourist-trap checklist.

Payment is locked

Cash has all but vanished, and WeChat & Alipay still assume a local bank behind you.

Google is blind here

Maps, Search and Reviews simply don’t see the real city moving underneath.

Language gates it all

Menus, booking, navigation, the small print — almost all of it, only in Chinese.

The insight

Coverage is a solved problem. Taste is not.

A map can list every restaurant in Shanghai. Not one of them can tell you the single place a local would actually take you.

How it works

A friend who lives in your chat.

Ask anything

Type like you’d text a friend — “natural wine, walkable, tonight.” No filters, no forms.

Kora curates

One pick a local would stand behind — never a sponsored list, never a tourist trap.

And hands you off

Payment, the booking, the Chinese menu — decoded in the same chat, right up until you’re there.

Koraonline · your local friend

where’s actually good for soup dumplings near me? 🥟14:06

Skip the mall stalls. Jia Jia Tang Bao on Huanghe Lu — 8 min walk, locals queue from 11. Crab & pork, thin skin, no MSG.14:06

Cash-free is fine — I’ll set up your foreign card now, and here’s the one line to say at the counter. 👇14:06

The difference

Three things a map can’t do here.

Taste

Places we’d send a friend to. No hype, no chains, no sponsored slots — judgement you can’t scrape.

Access

Independent venues, pop-ups and after-hours scenes that never show up on any map.

iii

Fluency

Payment, navigation and menus in Chinese — decoded in real time, so nothing is lost on the way.

Where

Across China — and counting.

…and many more, wherever your trip takes you.

KORA SIM

Land already online.

A real China +86 number — data, domestic calls, and the SMS verification codes foreign SIMs simply can’t receive. Buy it here, pick it up the minute you land in Beijing or Shanghai.

Reserve & pay online Card checkout · pick up in Beijing or Shanghai

1 · Reserve & pay onlinePick a plan and pay with your card — no Chinese bank needed.
2 · Land in Beijing or ShanghaiShow your KORA QR at the partner counter right in the arrivals hall.
3 · Tap in — you’re connectedStaff register & activate your card on the spot — 24/7, in your language.

Short stay prepaid · all-in

Data	Calls	Valid	Price
30 GB	500 min	15 days	¥200
80 GB	500 min	30 days	¥300
140 GB	700 min	30 days	¥500

Long stay prepaid balance · top up anytime

Carrier	Data	Calls	Monthly	Load
China Unicom	30 GB	500 min	¥129/mo	¥300
China Unicom	40 GB	700 min	¥159/mo	¥500
China Telecom	30 GB	500 min	¥52/mo	¥300
China Telecom	60 GB	1000 min	¥199/mo	¥500
Nihao Mobile	120 GB	300 min	¥249/mo	¥500

“Load” is prepaid balance; the monthly fee auto-deducts. No fixed expiry — top up to keep it alive.

Pay with Visa · Mastercard · American Express · JCB · UnionPay International cards & foreign currency accepted. Prices are shown in your currency for reference — the final charge is in Chinese yuan (CNY). Pick up at the airport counter in Beijing or Shanghai, open 24/7. (Shanghai: WIFI CHUXING, counter 2E-W1, PVG T1 & T2.)

Start here

Your trip starts with a hello.

Open Telegram, say hi, and let curiosity do the planning. Kora takes it from there.

Chat with Kora