You are learning wechat and social shanghai: you will read the scene it happens in, learn 10 words and phrases, take apart the pattern behind them (wechat + social digital phrases), hear them in a conversation, rehearse them, and finish by saying one thing out loud to be graded.
WeChat (微信) is not an app in China — it is the operating system of social life. Messaging, payments, restaurant bookings, business cards, group chats, official accounts. Knowing WeChat language means knowing Shanghai's social language.
The meal at Xin Rong Ji ended with the bill fight and three farewell phrases. Now, at the door, his host produces her phone. The stranger already has WeChat open.
「加我微信吧！你扫我。」 He scans her QR code. Two seconds. Done. She appears in his contacts: her name, her profile photo (a sunset on the Bund), and immediately a message: a restaurant recommendation for his last day in Shanghai, with a red map pin.
「太快了！谢谢！」 She laughs. 「这是我们本地人最爱的一家，游客很少去。你一定要试试。」
He saves the pin. Sends a thumbs-up emoji. She responds: 「下次来上海告诉我！有空联系我！」
WeChat: the permanent thread between a Shanghai visit and all future ones. 「保持联系！」