China became mostly cashless and cardless during the pandemic, creating huge problems for visitors

Unable to sleep during the day after an overnight flight from Europe, my very grand friend said he would like to eat somewhere "simple and nice", so I booked a table at one of Beijing's finest restaurants. The problem was how to get him there from his hotel. He thought he might get an Uber but they left China in 2016 and he didn't have an account with Didi, the company that has a near-monopoly in ride-hailing. He asked if a taxi on the street would take a credit card and I told him it might but not his card….