Travel Technology - Where can I rent a cell phone in China?

I am having trouble finding out where to rent a cell phone here in Shenzhen.

My phone isn't "unlocked" so buying a sim card isn't an option.

I would really appreciate some help with this.

Thanks!

Rumor has it some Verizon phones work.
Try the airport, google it.
You can also call the hotel you are staying at and ask.
Good luck

www.pandaphone.com

You could buy one for (much) less then the rental fee.

Yes, according to a friend who is teaching English near Shanghai, just find a phone shop where someone speaks sufficient English to sell you something.

SMS might be complicated without help though (something to do with having to register the phone/number and address - my friend still cannot send or receive SMS messages though I can call him - I've not had time to deliver some tech support in that respect).

Regards
I

If hopping over to Hong Kong is an option, they have excellent prices on unlocked GSM phones and sell Chinese SIM cards as well. Plenty of English spoken at the airport and elsewhere. Good luck.

You could buy one for (much) less then the rental fee.

low end phones start at around y300. ....and, if you really want to cut costs, you could always pick up a used phone at an electronics market like the one on women's street in beijing.

but, a good phone might not be a bad investment if you are a frequent traveler. many of the current top end nokia and sony-ericsson phones work pretty much everywhere, including japan/korea.

it's true that hk is a better place to buy phones than the prc because they get the new models sooner and prices are a bit cheaper. that said, china isn't that bad.

phones purchased in the us/uk/etc are much cheaper, of course, because their prices are subsidized by subscription agreements. furthermore, unlocking a phone (whether done by cingular et al or a private party) is pretty easy these days. the only downsides i can think of going this route are: 1) us cell providers rarely offer the latest models; and 2) you're unlikely to get asian language support. software upgrades can often address #2

Moondog is right re new phones: USA/UK, etc. have better buys but you must also sign up for 1 or 2 yr contract.

Both HK and China have outlets for used (and key here: unlocked) phones that are reliable and just what the doctor ordered. Tri/quad band more costly than dual-band. If you plan to use only in non-american areas, dual-band is more than adequate.

In the end, used phone with prepaid sim is better way to go. Most prepaid can be topped off so that at least one year term.

Rumor has it some Verizon phones work.
Try the airport, google it.
You can also call the hotel you are staying at and ask.
Good luck
Verizon phones do work in many cities in China. The roaming charges are on the high side (as I recall, a couple of bucks a minute), but the service is pretty reliable. I keep a quad-band GSM phone I bought on eBay for $60 bucks just for travel -- SIM cards are cheap in China and readily availble; there are shops and even SIM street vendors everywhere.

Going to Beiing in a couple weeks. Am I reading the United Mobile info on www.prepaidgsm.net correctly that incoming calls are free on the cell phone in China?? Im just a bit confused about the origination and destination zones but think that those apply only to outgoing calls. Also, has anyone used a United Mobile card in Beijing and can comment on the service? Thanks.

Going to Beiing in a couple weeks. Am I reading the United Mobile info on www.prepaidgsm.net correctly that incoming calls are free on the cell phone in China?? Im just a bit confused about the origination and destination zones but think that those apply only to outgoing calls. Also, has anyone used a United Mobile card in Beijing and can comment on the service? Thanks.

I just sent you a PM, but for the benefit of the rest, the "perks" gap between China Mobile and Unicom has closed quite a bit over the past 2 months; now, they are pretty much on even footing. The flipside (and the motivation for CM's competitive responses) is that Unicom has made significant improvments in the reliability arena recently so the playing field is more or less level.

But, some of the old tenants still hold true (e.g. never buy a SIM at the airport and definitely pay the Y10 for free incoming if you think you'll need it).

As an aside, CM international rates have dropped substantially in recent months. While I'm not positive the new rates apply to prepaid (I think they do), it only costs y1.2 per minute to call the US, Canada, Japan, and Korea now, and y2 to call ~25 other frequently called countries.

There are SIM cards for sale all over PEK itself. They sell'em in the arrivals/customs hall, right outside and in little stands all over the place.

Not sure what those prices are, but in all honesty, gotta be blind to really miss them.

There are SIM cards for sale all over PEK itself. They sell'em in the arrivals/customs hall, right outside and in little stands all over the place.

Not sure what those prices are, but in all honesty, gotta be blind to really miss them.

You'll pay a solid y100 premium if you buy there (not such a big deal, but kind of silly IMO).

You'll pay a solid y100 premium if you buy there (not such a big deal, but kind of silly IMO).

oye, that's good to know....

like most things, usually a catch. That's it.

As an aside, CM international rates have dropped substantially in recent months. While I'm not positive the new rates apply to prepaid (I think they do), it only costs y1.2 per minute to call the US, Canada, Japan, and Korea now, and y2 to call ~25 other frequently called countries.

Does that mean we don't need to dial the 17951 access code to get the cheaper IDD rates now?

Does that mean we don't need to dial the 17951 access code to get the cheaper IDD rates now?

well, yes. but, the bad news is that we need to use --the much harder to memorize-- 12593. the quality is very good, though.

1. As stated above you can get a decent Chinese cell phone for next to nothing in China, 300Y is stated above, that's minimum, but you can get something decent for under $100.

2. Depending on what model you have almost any cell phone can be cracked in China for anywhere from 50-200 Renmenbi.

3. they sell SIM cards almost everywhere.

4. In many countries incoming calls are free (assuming you are in the same country as your service) charging for incoming calls is primarily a US centric pheonomena.

4. In many countries incoming calls are free (assuming you are in the same country as your service) charging for incoming calls is primarily a US centric pheonomena.

With respect to the countries with which I am familiar (I'm thinking of Japan, Phils, Thailand, and Singapore), "free" usually means "calling party pays (dearly)".

I don't know about Schenzen, but in Hong Kong phone unlocking is really simple. Go to the phone center in Mongkok. It costs about US$10.

With respect to the countries with which I am familiar (I'm thinking of Japan, Phils, Thailand, and Singapore), "free" usually means "calling party pays (dearly)".

I ordered a United Mobile card today. What I typically do with prepaids is forward my TMobile to Telcan.net and then have that forward to the prepaid. However, recently, Ive tried substituting Skype as a forwarding service. Skype charges a bit over 2 cents per minute to China so if someone calls me it shouldnt cost too much.

Going to Beiing in a couple weeks. Am I reading the United Mobile info on www.prepaidgsm.net correctly that incoming calls are free on the cell phone in China?? Im just a bit confused about the origination and destination zones but think that those apply only to outgoing calls. Also, has anyone used a United Mobile card in Beijing and can comment on the service? Thanks.

I was in Beijing last month. Incoming calls are free in China. Service with United Mobile was generally OK, but there were a couple of times when the network was busy and I couldn't get a call through. My phone would also sometimes select a network that didn't work with United Mobile, and I would have to manually change networks.

I also have a China Mobile SIM if anyone needs it. There are no credits left.