China is virtually a cashless society now. Shops technically still have to take cash but I've read they won't have change because it's so rare. I have seen someone use cash only once so far and it was an Indian family. They are also cardless, so nowhere takes credit cards. Instead the entire payment system hinges on two apps, alipay and wechat. Chinese link their bank accounts to the app and foreigners can link a credit card. All payments are done through qr code scans. Even street vendors use these exclusively. These apps are also loaded with "mini-apps" that run through the main app and handle basically everything in life. Plane/train tickets, food delivery, taxis, ordering at any chain, dinner reservations at nicer places. You name it. Wechat is also one of the main social media platforms (I think similar to Facebook), and it's absolutely what Elon is trying to turn Twitter into.
Of course the government and it's overarching control are the facilitators of these systems, but they are pretty damn convenient.
