Meituan: Food Delivery That'll Spoil You Forever
Alright, let's talk about one of my favourite things about living in China: Meituan food delivery. This app is going to absolutely ruin you for food delivery back home. I'm talking restaurant-quality meals delivered to your door in 15–30 minutes for $3–5 USD. Yeah, you read that right.
Yesterday I ordered a Whopper from Burger King for ¥29 ($4.13 USD). The restaurant is 300 metres from my apartment so it was at my door in about 12 minutes. Once you experience this — a fresh, hot meal appearing at your doorstep for pocket change — you're going to have a really hard time paying $25 for a cold burger with a 45-minute wait back home. Consider this your warning.
Getting Set Up for Meituan
What You Need Before You Start
Before you dive into Meituan, make sure you've got three things sorted:
Your Chinese address saved in both Chinese characters and pinyin on your phone. If you're at a hotel temporarily, the front desk can write it out for you.
Your Chinese phone number — you'll need this to verify your account.
WeChat Pay or Alipay set up and funded. Without one of these, you can't pay.
The app has a lot of Chinese text, but don't let that intimidate you. Between a translation app on your phone and the fact that most dishes have photos, you'll figure out the initial setup fast. The beauty is that once it's configured, ordering becomes stupidly easy.
Step 1: Find the Kangaroo
Open up the Meituan app and look for the little kangaroo icon. No joke — that's their food delivery mascot. Tap that kangaroo to access food delivery.
Look for 外卖 (wàimài) which means "takeout/delivery," or just find the kangaroo. You'll know you're in the right place when you see a flood of restaurant options with mouth-watering photos.
How to Order Like a Seasoned Local
Step 2: Browse and Translate
You'll see tons of restaurants with photos of their dishes. The app shows you:
Delivery time estimates — usually 20–40 minutes
Ratings and reviews from other customers
Distance from your location
Special deals — and trust me, there are always deals
Don't stress about the Chinese text. Use your phone's translation app — screenshot the menu, run it through the camera translation feature, and you'll see exactly what you're looking at. Ingredients, sauce options, portion sizes — all readable in seconds.
Step 3: Customise Your Order Like a Pro
Once you've found something that looks good, tap on the dish. Most restaurants let you customise:
Portion size — small, regular, or large
Main protein or base — chicken, beef, tofu, etc.
Sauce preferences — spicy, mild, sesame, no sauce
Add-ons and substitutions — extra vegetables, swap ingredients
Here's a real example: I wanted a healthy chicken salad for lunch. Using my translation app, I could see the ingredients — purple sweet potato, steamed pumpkin, roasted tahini sauce, cucumber. I knew exactly what I was ordering. No guessing, no awkward surprises.
I went with the signature pan-fried chicken breast salad with purple sweet potato (炫彩饱), roasted sesame sauce, and all the good stuff. Took me maybe 60 seconds to customise.
Step 4: The Price Will Break Your Brain
Here's the moment your mind gets blown. Let's look at what I paid:
26.90 CNY = about $3.80 USD, $5.74 AUD, $5.26 CAD
That's right. $3.80 USD for a fresh, restaurant-quality chicken salad with vegetables, purple sweet potato, and quality ingredients. In Australia or the US, you'd be paying $15–20 minimum for the same thing — and that's before delivery fees and tip.
Discounts, Payment, and Tracking
Step 5: Hunt for Discounts — They’re Everywhere
One of the best parts about Meituan? The discounts are constant and they're legit. On my chicken salad order, I got:
5 yuan off the food price
Free delivery — saved another 2.85 yuan
Total savings: about $1 USD — on an order that was already $3.80
These aren't rare promotions. They happen constantly. The app throws deals at you non-stop — first-time user discounts, restaurant promotions, free delivery windows, group buy discounts. My order went from 29.9 yuan down to 26.9 yuan. It was already cheap, and then they made it even cheaper.
Step 6: Pay in 10 Seconds Flat
When you're ready to check out, select your payment method: Alipay or WeChat Pay. Tap your preferred option, confirm with your fingerprint or face ID, and you're done. The entire checkout process takes about 10 seconds. No card numbers to type, no CVV codes, no billing address. Just tap, scan your face, done.
Step 7: Track Your Food in Real-Time
Once your order is confirmed, you can watch the whole process live:
The restaurant accepts and starts preparing your order
A driver is assigned and heads to the restaurant
The driver picks up your food and you see them moving toward you on the map
Estimated arrival time updates in real-time
In my case, the entire process — from clicking "order" to having food in my hands — took 18 minutes. That's faster than most Western food delivery services, and it cost $3.80.
Step 8: Enjoy Your Ridiculously Cheap Meal
When your food arrives, you're going to be impressed. Fresh grilled chicken, colourful vegetables, purple sweet potato — all properly packaged, still warm, for less than four bucks. If you want to double-check what you got, just point your translation app at the packaging or receipt.
Fair warning: the delivery drivers will call you sometimes. They're usually confirming your location or telling you they've arrived. If you don't speak Chinese, just open the door and look for the guy in the yellow Meituan jacket holding your food. Works every time.
Tips, Tricks, and Hard-Won Wisdom
Common Questions and Hard-Won Tips
What if I mess up my order? Don't worry too much. Pictures are your friend — most dishes have photos, so you can usually tell what you're getting. Check other customers' reviews too — they often leave real photos of the food. Worst case? You discover something new. That's part of the adventure.
How do I find foreign food? Use your translation app on the search bar and type what you want — "pizza," "burger," "salad." The app will show relevant options. Major chains like Burger King and McDonald's are all on Meituan, and expat-friendly restaurants often have some English in their listings.
What about dietary restrictions? Translate the customisation options carefully. You can usually deselect ingredients or add notes. For serious allergies, it's worth having a Chinese speaker help you create a standard message you can send to restaurants with every order.
Should I tip? No! Tipping isn't expected in China, including on Meituan. The price you see is the price you pay. This is yet another reason it's so cheap.
Can I save my favourite restaurants? Yes — just tap the star or heart icon on restaurants you like. This makes reordering stupidly easy. You'll build a rotation of go-to spots within your first week.
Why This Will Ruin You Forever
Here's the thing about Meituan: it's not just cheap. It's cheap, fast, with a massive selection, constant discounts, and genuinely good food. When you're paying $3.80 for a healthy lunch that arrives in 18 minutes, and you're doing this every day, it fundamentally rewires your brain.
You'll find yourself thinking, "Why would I ever cook?" or "Why would I go out when this is so convenient?" And then when you go back home and see $15 delivery fees, $25 minimum orders, $20 burgers, and 60-minute wait times — you'll understand what I mean when I say Meituan spoils you forever.
But honestly? It's worth being spoiled. Embrace it while you're here. Your wallet and your stomach will both thank you.