Trawling through markets while being assaulted by assorted sights, smells and sounds has always been a part of Chinese city life, and now swiping a smartphone to pay for items could be, too. Chinese consumers are using their smartphones to pay for anything and everything.

Status is everything in China. But forget the flash cars, luxury designer bags and huge mansions. In a society that's going increasingly digital, the new social currency comes in the form of technology products, which help the elite show off their wealth to the masses.

It’s dark, gloomy and the glare of computer monitors highlights the faces of people hooked to their screens at an internet café in China. The past few years seemed to signal the death of these businesses, but surging interest in competitive gaming has seen people flock back to them.

With a reputation for quality, foreign brands dominate Chinese technology markets. But in 2014, homegrown Xiaomi overtook Samsung and Apple to become the biggest smartphone manufacturer in China. How did a Chinese company manage to build enough prestige to compete with the big boys?

Sending voice messages via WeChat and QQ has taken off in China as people look to save time typing and better communicate their emotions with friends and family. Anonymous platform Tings is hoping to connect people around the world through this purest form of expression.

In China, people are using their smartphones to stream themselves doing anything and everything – from cooking and eating dinner to singing karaoke. The craze is fuelling a new wave of online celebrity – and even movie stars are jumping on the bandwagon.

China’s Golden Shield Project – or the ‘Great Firewall’ – has long posed problems for video moguls looking to please domestic audiences. But with new regulations tightening censorship even further, how are media sites staying relevant in an increasingly crowded and insular market?

From messaging to social media to a marketplace to browsing the internet, WeChat is the app the does everything. While Western companies and app developers race to unbundle their services into efficient single-purpose apps, WeChat continues to add feature after feature.