Originally Posted by
gudugan
China Mobile had closer stores. If China Unicom had closer stores I would've gone there
US passport, 10-year L visa
I paid Y200 cash. Technically this is a setup fee but it looks like I have a Y200 credit on my account so it should last for 5 months. You can also pay with AliPay or WeChat Pay of course but you need the phone number to set those up (and bank account).
I don't have a residency permit and don't have any credit score.
I didnt realize the Chinese carriers have a surcharge for 5G. Is that the cheapest and viable plan for you? Since I have various options to roam in China, I won't need much if any data. I have read that China Unicom is better for Western phones than China Mobile. Not sure why.
Which city did you set this up in? Any advantages for a Beijing number over a Shanghai number?
Is there any way to pay with a credit card? Ok guessing if you're not always present in China, the only way to pay your plan is to have a bank account and use Alipay to pay every month? Any other way?