Wei, the world: Mobile pay, your way through China

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I did an experiment recently. Nothing stressful like a dangerous sea excursion or trying to survive in the desert, but close: to live cashless in China for a month.

I kept my weekend simple: I got a quick afternoon snack of barbecued corn on the street corner; had a facial at the beauty parlor; took mom out for Sunday brunch; got a thick pile of catalogs from my favorite rebellious ancient Chinese artists; and, booked a ticket to an underground hip-hop concert.

All without cash.

China is changing fast. It is also taking the world with it, with its huge consumer power. Just take a look at the more than 6 million Chinese who traveled abroad during the "Golden Week" holiday just a few days ago.

Mobile pay isn't just restricted to China – I was told by friends that you can use it to buy tickets in Moscow, shop your way in Berlin's duty-free stores and buy a roti prata in India.

Earlier this year Nikkei reported that the number of stores accepting Alipay in Japan will double to 45,000 this year, according to the regional head of Ant Financial Services.

Shenzhen was once a fishing village and now a world metropolis. It has also become the home base of Tencent, Huawei, and other Chinese high-tech companies. Shenzhen is also close to the city where Apple assembles most of its products.

Everything is supposed to be fast and efficient. Even hotel room service takes 20 minutes fewer than in many other places around the world.

It is not just in Shenzhen, in fact in many other parts of China too: mobile payment is changing people’s lifestyles.

Things are changing fast. Whoever fails to catch up would be left behind in a rapidly changing China.

You could always ask the questions, such as: will all of these make the world better? That question is always hard to answer.

I will be honest with you: the convenience of mobile payments, isn't likely to help dampen the desire to consume, rather it's the other way around.

There is the concern of the online security, which still has hasn't been sufficiently answered. And, will there be enormous urgency from the public to push for reforms to make China’s financial system more internationalized?

These are all important issues. But they should never delay you from understanding the dramatic changes going on with China such as the mobile payment system.

It is a shame if you miss out on what the world could be like in the future – happening in China today.

(Tian Wei is the anchor of CGTN’s World Insight )