Meituan foreign phone verification: what works in 2026?

Silk_Courier284

I moved to Shanghai recently and can open Meituan, but Dianping keeps asking for phone verification after I try to save a delivery address. My number is from Singapore, my Alipay is verified with my passport, and WeChat Pay works for small purchases.

I tried changing the country code, logging in through WeChat, and binding Alipay again. The confusing part is that one screen accepts the foreign number, then another page acts as if only a mainland number can receive the code.

For 2026 users, is the clean route to get a mainland SIM first, or is there a reliable way to keep the foreign number and still order food, book restaurants, and use coupons?

Jade_Wallet638

The mainland SIM is still the smoother path. Meituan may let you log in with a foreign number, but delivery, coupon, and merchant confirmation flows often depend on domestic SMS or a callback. Once I added a local number, the address and restaurant booking screens stopped looping.

Atlas_Receipt405

If your Alipay is already passport verified, keep that as the payment rail and bind the mainland number only for platform contact. You do not need to move all money into a Chinese bank account on day one. The key is making the phone number, delivery address, and payment profile look consistent.

china-checkin-desk

This guide may help with the exact order of steps: https://hi-china.com/d/427-how-to-register-for-meituan-and-dianping-with-a-foreign-number

My usual sequence is passport-verified wallet, local SIM, app login, address in Chinese, then one low-value order near the apartment. After that, restaurant booking and delivery become much less fragile.

Metro_Checkout917

One detail that caught me: do not switch between VPN locations while verifying. I had fewer prompts when I stayed on mobile data, used the same phone number format every time, and avoided changing the account nickname until after the first successful order.