I spent a week in China where only 7% of the population speaks English and Google Translate is blocked. Here's the app I used instead.

• Only 7% of the Chinese population speaks English, according to data.
• The inclusion of English in the school curriculum has been debated for years in the country.
• Having a translation app is essential when traveling in China. I recommend Speak and Translate.

As I prepared to devour my wonton soup, I heard a tap on my table. A middle-aged man seated at the next table over smiled at me and then held up his phone.

I tried to read what was written on the phone, but it was all in Mandarin and I couldn't follow. Then he pointed to the bottom of the screen and to my relief there were some English words. 

"Where are you from?" it read. 

I realized that he was trying to chat with me via a translation app, so I took out my phone and opened my own app: "Hello, I am from London."

A big smile on his face. He showed the phone to his wife and kids and they all waved at me and smiled. 

He quickly typed something on his phone again and put it up in front of me.

"The land of David Beckham," it read. 

And so the conversation went on for a few minutes and while neither of us spoke a word or understood each other's language, there was a warm familiarity by the end of the meal. 

For tourists to get around the country, a translation app is a must

A translation app or a phrase book is a must if you are traveling in China. It was the most important aspect of my trip and helped me navigate around Beijing. 

Travel blogs and review sites are flooded with advice on downloading a range of translation apps before traveling to China. I quickly realized that Google Translate is blocked in China and ChatGPT did not work either. An app called Speak and Translate came to the rescue:

I paid for a week-long access and it helped me get around the country without knowing the language. The app translates via camera, speech, or text, and will work without WiFi.

Having access to a translation app on my phone gave me the flexibility to explore the city at length. I took the subway, ate at local eateries, bargained with shopkeepers, and even made new friends. 

Only 7% of the population in China speaks English

There is varied data on this. The Telegraph reported in 2017 that around 10 million people in a population of over 1.3 billion speak English. Separately, recent data from local China travel sites show that approximately 7% of the population speak English. 

While it's worth noting that this figure may have grown since then, the inclusion of English in school curriculums has been a contentious topic in China. In an opinion piece in China Daily in March of this year, Li Yang wrote that including English in the country's school syllabuses has been a heated topic among China's political leaders for decades. 

Li Yang argued that teaching English should focus more on students using it in their daily lives as opposed to teaching grammar. A local tour guide who was showing me around named Michael agreed.

"A number of schools start teaching English from the age of 5 or 6. But the challenge is that not many people try and speak the language. They can read in English but are not confident speaking it," Michael, who trained as an English teacher during the pandemic, told me. 

So for any English speakers who are planning to travel to China, take my advice and download Speak and Translate — you may even make a few friends like I did.

Correction: The story was updated to correct the data on English speaking population in China.