There are varied bundles available for roaming with HK SIM cards. Just find a convenience store where you can browse the backs of the SIM card packets and find a bundle or bundles that work for you.

”Just find a convenience store where you can browse the backs of the SIM card packets and find a bundle or bundles that work for you."

Bring a magnifying glass!

Hi

Which Chinese PAYG SIM has the cheapest roaming in Japan? 200 minutes/text and 2GB of data per month is enough. Flying from China to Japan and would like to have an actual phone number.

Thank you

You could pinpoint an area where Mobile, Unicom, and Telecom have full service (i.e. including SIM card sale/activation) stores and visit all three. IME, those folks have access to more/better pricing options than their companies promote online, and plans also vary by region.

China Mobile offers unlimited data in Japan for RMB30 / day. Calls to China are RMB1.99 / minute I think. But why would you go with a Chinese SIM in Japan (or anywhere)? You won't be able to access Google maps, etc. without a VPN.

For those who use Airalo, which esim option is best for short term visit in China (10 days or less)? The website has country specific eSIM, regional and global?

I actually have TMob Magenta Max, whatever their all-in plan is. Traveled to China often prepandemic for business and never felt the need for eSim. The usual suspect did not work outside of the hotel, but once I was in a hotel, w their wifi, everything seemed to work fine.

You'll almost definitely burn through 2g over the course of 10 days. I'd get 5, to be safe or in case you have high data usage demands.

OK, I'm glad I used the search function to find the one and only post of the subject of lebara and China. I had found while searching for a Sim that Lebara offers un to 25GB per month of your 40GB allowance for £15 - Or All 20GB of your 20GB Sim for £10 - saves a lot of hassle as long as it works - and well.

Before nipping out to the supermarket to buy a £1 sim to activate and add the rolling contract Sim, is anyone able to confirm who has used one of Lebara sims in China and it works ok? Unlike when travelling abroad with an activated eSim - you always have the knowledge you can log in on wifi to a website and get an alternative if it doesnt work. Dont have that option here so hugely important to be sure. I bought a 3 sim once with the same idea. Worked fine in the UK, then completely failed and useless when I arrived inside the EU - despite the 3 stores assurances. So I'm a little more than cautious for this.

Just picking up on your comment about a VPN... I just thought a VPN would be needed when roaming. Are you saying its not needed? What about if I also bought a Chinese sim (and obtain a number) would that never work with google and VPN just not work? (That is what I'm expecting - but with a foreign sim, I always thought a VPN was always needed. I will obviously set up wechat and alipay for the new Lebara number (I have done with my O2 Sim - but will be shutting off roaming.) I'm just making sure of the requirements when adding cards. I'm sure my WeChat pay doesnt work - even linked to Alipay.

https://maya.net/esim/china

Bit confused. If you scroll down to the "travel esim" it specifically mentions google etc *but sims are unlimited. The ones above don't but variations have a capped GB amount. Are they the same in reality and difference purely usage (cap or unlimited) and is a VPN needed to access YT and Google etc?

I don't have first hand experience yet but there are colleagues I trust who have used the Lebara UK roaming in China and it "just works". I will have more direct experience at the end of this month. Lebara UK only introduced inclusive roaming for China back in September 2024.

Getting onto public WiFi in China usually requires being able to get an SMS to a Chinese mobile number to authenticate yourself. Larger western brand hotels usually allow you to log onto the WiFi using your name and room number. Ultimately the a Chinese government expects all internet usage to be traceable, and because getting a local SIM card is linked to government ID then SMS to a China mobile number is a means to an end. No China mobile number means you cannot use many services aimed at the the locals.

If you are using a roaming SIM card then all your traffic is tunnelled back to Lebara UK. So your traffic is already securely tunneled back to the UK, and doesn't face any local restrictions. And you will have a UK IP address and stuff like the BBC just works like you're at home. You can also make and receive calls to/from your UK number as if you are in the UK.

Usage of Vs is discouraged in China, technically you need a licence from the government, in practice many consumer Vs are blocked. There is a separate thread about Vs but I suggest you don't bother yourself with this.

There's a process to get a local SIM card that probably means visiting a larger store where the staff are clueful enough on how to register a SIM card against a foreign passport. It would never natively work with Google and many other western services that the Chinese government have ruled are not appropriate. There is a separate thread about Vs but let's just say if you have a roaming SIM you don't need to concern yourself with.

You can keep the AliPay and WeChat pay set up against the O2 number - all it might need is an inbound SMS and if you have dual SIM you can keep the O2 card active for voice/SMS. Trying to set up a 2nd ID might spell trouble as it could be seen as an attempt at identity fraud and both could get blocked.

The one thing you DO NEED TO DO is to change the APN details. By default the Lebara SIM arrives with Vodafone details which do work in the UK but this gives you a false sense of security as it won't work when roaming. You need to change it to Lebaras own APN and to be fair they have clear instructions on how to do it and Spam you with SMS messages with more information. You need to change the APN for roaming data to work.

Depends where they route/tunnel their traffic. It's a good bet that it's provided on a roaming basis but it wasn't obvious from/to Maya routes their traffic. You would need to ask them unless you can find the answer in their help or faqs. I couldn't.

Read the Lebara UK fine print closely. At least when roaming in Europe, your free data is capped to the data you've recently used in the UK. Obviously done to keep people from buying the cards in Britain but more or less wholly using them under "free roaming" elsewhere.

That's good, but the post above kind of puts the kybosh on it! It sounds like buying a sim now, with no previous month to compare with, it means I would have zero data allowance. I actually spoke with the CS yesterday too and upfront of why I was buying the sim with its usage and the fact I wouldn't be renewing - and he insisted it would be fine. Maybe that was why my 3 Sim mentioned failed to roam when it was bought for that purpose.


Yikes..... and why I need a local sim!

I have a feeling that Lebara just isnt going to work for me which is a shame as I thought I found the ideal solution. Obviously I need to receive SMS or will be a problem. My provider is Tesco (who piggy bag on O2) and ask for them to confirm things. They said there would be no cost to receive SMS, so great. However, it means opening up receiving calls. She claimed that it wouldnt matter if I didnt answer a call, I would be charged £1.09 for each and every time someone called me. Imagine a persistent caller - I could end up in debt for £1000's (Yes I know you can cap - but that also immediately cuts SMS as well.) They also charge £1.49 per minute on top. I did challenge her on that £1.09 charge asking why would there be a connection charge and she was adamant and call routed would be subject to that charge! Im not bothered about receiving calls - I just dont want to pay for any calls at all and it seems its not possible to balance it for my number to receive text.

OK, I've seen plenty of YT videos showing it can be done, though appreciate your thoughts. It's a very foreign concept, but thats why all the questions!



I'm in trouble them! I won't be able to receive any SMS and I certainly need a second line for Data.

why would a second sim signal 2 ID’s?

I have identified another option. Long story … but I actually do have a Vodafone monthly sim. Funnily I rang yesterday to terminate that contract which I bought with my iPhone but never used. Voda charge £7.39 for worry free roaming. So £120 inc VAT for this short trip! That’s more than my annual cost with Tesco.

so if I installed Alipay and WeChat on the Samsung S22 ultra it’s sitting in, would be regarded as 2 IDs?

I got a response back from from Maya. A VPn is required. They use China Unicom - but it sounds like I can’t use it for Alipay and WeChat because I’ve already installed on my iPhone?


Noted. I have a Sim arriving today and will call Lebara again to pick their brains on this. I've a nasty feeling this sim wont be an option until month 2.

You have to find Lebara's fine print and read it. If you go over your "free" allowance capped on your UK usage (in the EU at least), you can still use the card but you are charged something per MB; it's no longer free. And if you have to have a balance on your account to fund it.

Good catch 889 on the fine print. I do have friends who do not normally use Lebara who took out a new SIM just to go to China and they were able to use their contracted data allowance without any previous usage pattern.

If this is a genuine concern for you les37b then look at CMLink UK (part of China Mobile). It's a UK based MVNO run on EE and all traffic will be tunneled back to the UK when roaming. They certainly will not have an issue with a SIM being used for a month, so many friends and colleagues have done this in the past and a couple are currently doing it. As you have more than one trip you can look at the one year SIM which I think is £18.

You really don't need to concern yourself with local WiFi and a local SIM if you can use your hotel WiFi and have enough data allowance for the rest of the time and anything that is normally blocked in China. Don't over complicate things.