A good point. I made sure to have a power pack (i.e., big, external charging battery) with me — not so that I could talk on the phone, but so that I could pay for things and/or call a taxi with DiDi. Without a charge on my phone, I'd effectively be penniless and stranded.

At least in China, they might be moving toward multiple and parallel services (i.e., WeChat and AliPay), but they're all based on phones. Which means that if you lose your phone, or if it breaks, you're really in trouble.