I've only been in HK on short trips. QQ Music seems to work for a while outside of China, until the amount of time that you're required to log back in. Then a lot of the songs stop working (some still work, but those are the song uploaded by wannabe singers / out of copyright).

That's too advanced for me, maybe it's something I'll work on as a project.

I’ll leave it up to the forum to decide if this should be added to the wiki, but I have had success with the following eSIMs:

• Airalo Asialink regional eSIM - routes through Singapore - I believe this is Singtel
• Holafly China - unlimited data, buy number of days (30 for $75 USD without coupon) - routes through Japan or Singapore (all my YT ads are Japanese, but Spotify sign-in email listed Singapore as my location) - I believe this is CMLink

Note that you need to download and install these before coming to the Mainland - they will activate once you arrive.

No issue with accessing Western services through these eSIMs - even TikTok - and Alipay, etc. also work fine.

Slightly OT, but anyone knows where can one get a HK number in mainland? Taobao?

Yes I got mine through Taobao many years ago.

Dear flyertalkers, bumped into this thread and while I could find some answers for my problems in it some advice still could be helpful
- I am for a month or 2-3 a visiting scientist at a knowledge institute/university in Southern China
- Since the stipend/living allowance is taxed I am seen as a short-term employee and had to go through/arrange all the interesting things you have to comply with - getting a work permit, Z-visa, residence permit, local bank account, Alipay, Wechat, Tax app and so on (next to even passing a medical test ;-)). The Institute staff was of stellar help here.
- Needed of course also a Chinese SIM - all these apps and accounts are linked to your Mainland Chinese number, and you get security/log in codes on such a number only when you install your bank app, Alipay etc. for the first time, etc.. So straight upon arrival my hosts and me went to a China Unicom shop at the airport.
- I thought they helped my buying the usual pre-paid SIM card, just for a somewhat longer period.
- It appeared 1-2 weeks ago they probably made a mistake or faced a shrewed sales person - I have an 88 Yuan/Month, 50Gb/M, 400 voice min/M subscription....for 2 YEARS (24 months). So if nothing changes, I am stuck for 2 years minus 2 months with a data and voice package I will hardly use. I am likely to visit China some 1-2 times for say a week each per year in the future, and a very basic subscription to which I buy data according to needs would serve me very well. Receving SMS-es from China in Europe (where I live) is important since it allows continuing my Wechat and Alipay acccounts, the bank account and so on (could not transfer all funds to my home country due legal limitations, but the remaining sum can be spent during future travels). I don't blame anyone for this - I am their first visitor under the program they run, and many things I had to comply with were surprises for my hosts too.
- Of course the staff here is trying to solve this issue with me too. But am very glad if the wisdom of the crowd in this thread could clarify
a) Has China Unicom minimum times you need to keep a contract before you can move to another subscription?
b) Can you get SMS-es abroad while having a minimal subscription (I see options in the 8-28 Yuan/M range)
c) There seems also an option to put your phone contract in dormant state that allows you to keep your number for 5 Yuan/M, and then you can reactivate by calling the service line - does anyone has experience with this, I assume you will not be able to receive SMS-es abroad
d) When I called the customer service at 10010 (domestic) or +8618618610010 (from abroad) these days to see what is possible, I got a choice menu that only gives instructions in Chinese. Unfortunately the "press 2 for English", as moondog has experience with, is not coming up. Any suggestions for a way around this?

Tnx so much!

I don’t have China Unicom (have China Mobile) but…

a) Worst case if you can’t get out of it, I think you can just stop paying and get a new phone number from another company, and switch all of your services over. I tried to open one of those cheap plans from China Unicom and was denied (see upthread)
b) Yes
c) Might as well do the 8 yuan plan instead

Not sure about CU, but China Mobile 8RM plan does allow receiving messages while abroad.

Establishing voice contact is worth whatever hurdles your local Unicom bot throws in your path. (I was inclined to advise you to play around with their app instead, but then I recalled that it was the phone people who patiently worked with me to optimize my app experience in the first place.)

If you need English, adding China Unicom on WeChat also lets you interact with a human (who speaks English) directly via chat. I changed my plan (as in, downgraded) once via them and it was pretty painless.

Way back in 2016, I pre-purchased a SIM from China Unicom. I was able to order from Canada, then have the SIM shipped to the Hilton Wangfujing in Beijing. When I checked in to the hotel, the envelope with the SIM was waiting for me. All I had to do was pop it into my iPhone and all was well for the 10d or so I was in China.

Today the URL - https://www.mychinaunicom.com - goes to "UniMobile" but the same service to pre-purchase and ship to hotel in China exists.

7d / 5GB - $28 USD
15d / 10GB - $45 USD
30d / 30GB - $60 USD

By global standards I guess that's sort of expensive, but for the convenience of getting a Chinese SIM that actually works and you don't need to line up in some store where no one speaks English - well sometimes it's worth paying for convenience.

Nowadays I have an Airalo eSim that seems to work pretty well the world over. But China is China so when I go in December, I'll probably use MyChinaUnicom again.

That's extortionate pricing.

Note that you have to do the passport registration with selfies holding up your passport. I have always found getting that approach to work really really difficult and a huge waste of time.

Further, that site doesn't seem to have any direct connection with China Unicom, just a reseller using their name.

That's dodgy and I'd suggest steering well clear of them.

The OP seems to know/acknowledge that those guys are a scam operation, but they must spend a small fortune on SEO in order to mislead others

Any recommendations for a physical (NOT eSIM) that works in China and in other countries in Asia?

Ideally, I can ship it to the USA or I can buy it in Hong Kong. Thanks!

Best I can find so far is https://www.three.com.hk/prepaid/DIY/en/offer/travel

30-Day Pass - APAC 16GB
$198 HKD / 30 daysTravel Data 16GB FUP / Thereafter 128kbps

Package will be instantly activated after successful payment with activated SIM.

Applicable to the below destinations:

Australia, Australia - Tasmania, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Mainland China, Guam, Guam - Saipan, Guam - Tinian Island, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam

If you're on the ground in HK then you should be able to pick up a SIM in any convenience store that can have bundled minutes or data for China.

Would it work in other countries too? Specifically need Japan and South Korea. Thanks