Mobile payments prove a holiday hit

Mobile payment was the most popular way China's outbound tourists chose to spend their cash during the recent May Day holiday, according to a report from the nation's leading mobile payment service.

China's Hong Kong and Macao, as well as Japan, topped the mobile payment chart by user number among mainland visitors during the three-day holiday, Alipay revealed in a report on Wednesday.

They were followed by Thailand, the United States and South Korea, sought-after destinations where Chinese use their smartphones to pay for meals, order taxis and get their consumption tax refunded.