I created my WeChat account about 4-5 years ago and it was only an instant message app to me at the moment—until when I start to live in Shanghai, I find the most amazing and horrible thing is: if you have a smart phone and the very first app to install is WeChat. Besides connecting friends, public accounts has covered all aspects of my life and reduce the number of apps installed in my phone.
我在四五年前就注册了微信账号，但当时仅仅是一个聊天工具，直到回国以后才发现微信实在太具有统治地位了，大部分人在拿到新手机后可能装的第一个APP就是微信。除了跟朋友聊天，微信公众号是一个很伟大的创意，大大减少了手机需要安装的APP的数量，而且生活中方方面面都能用上。
Just list a few public account services that I have been using:
简单列举几个我常用的微信公众号服务：
Book a hospital appointment, pay for examine medicine fees, get examine results
医院公众号可以预约，挂号，付费，查询报告结果
It is always so crowded in the hospital, like this
国内医院基本都是人山人海
and it is common to spend a day in the hospital just to register, wait for the doctor, get examination and wait for lab results. But now with the help of Hospital public accounts, no more wasting time on lines and extremely useful in order to see a specialist.
如果不提前预约的话肯定要耗在医院一整天，但是现在有公众号可以预约和挂号后就可以去了就看，还可以在手机上直接看检查结果，有孩子的话非常实用。
Order all kinds of delivery such as KFC:
在公众号上可以直接点外卖，比如非常方便的肯德基宅急送
Pay for parking fees at the mall I usually go. Actually it applies to most shopping malls in Shanghai, as long as you follow the mall's public accounts you can get latest news, coupons and point cards, and of course to pay parking fees.
停车付费这个功能我也经常用，现在基本上海的商场的公众号都推出了这个功能，还可以查查地图和优惠信息
Get quote and buy all kinds of insurance online, and much better price. It was recommended by my agent and even she is buying through this account because of low price!
小雨伞是互联网保险品牌里做的比较大的，在公众号上面可以直接买各种保险，价格优惠。我还是认识的保险经纪人推荐给我的，她自己也在上面买。
Even pay you credit card bills! ( I use it every month, find it easier compared with using the app)
建行的公众号可以直接还信用卡，我每个月都用这种方式还，比他们自己的app还方便。
A very popular public account presented by WeChat team, count how many steps you walk and run every day and rank all your friends.
大部分人都关注了的微信运动，上面的步数大战是每个中老年人的战场，每天的第一基本都是他们了。。。
Besides all these powerful public accounts, WeChat's built in functions are very useful, too. Such as paying all kinds of utilities bills by scanning the bills.
微信支付可以付水电费我觉得也挺实用，直接扫描寄到家里的账单就可以付了。