Just buy the thing. Once again, the seller's approval rating is off the charts.

I buy it two days ago... But I cant test it immediately.
Can somebody translate this:

全国不限漫游 联通3G无线上网套餐 联通1G流量2个月资费卡 介绍：
中国联通WCDMA资费卡，全国漫游免费，5、6两个月随时激活使用；
可（5月、6月）或（6月、7月）两个月每月使用1G流量。
温馨提示：拿到资费后马上联网通过联通网上营业厅获取随机密码更改服务密码以便日后查询。
特别注明：此只是一张资费卡，不含无线上网卡硬件!

Its from here, maybe its the same card.

I could, but google does a good enough job 100,000x faster than me:

My gut tells me that you've stumbled upon a really great product/seller. In the event that this is not the case and you end up burning $20, you can always nail him with some negative feedback; if you were to knock him down to 99.8%, he'd surely lose more than $20. But, since you already bought it, you have absolutely nothing to gain by continuing to pester him with questions.

I translated it with google first, but wasnt sure about "Can (5 months, 6 months) or (6 months, 7 months) 1G traffic per month for two months."

Maybe you read it, but I cant test the card before december. So how could I give him a feedback? This was the reason why I asked here.

This would give me enough pause to contemplate asking ONE more question, but since you've already hit him with 20+, you're on the verge of becoming one of those customers that businesses simply write off as a waste of time (I'm not trying to be rude).

You say I should ask him

No it's not 5/6/7 months, but May/June/July. As far as I can see this SIM card only lasts two months, and you must activate it in May or June.

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The China Unicom SIM card you are talking about is kind of a PAYG/post-paid hybrid. You're basically prepaying for a bundled voice/data plan that gets deducted monthly at a fixed price, e.g. 240 minutes + 300MB data.

It's not good for tourists but has some advantages for those who visit China on a regular basis. The main one is being able to call in to "freeze" service, although reactivating is a bit of a pain and requires a visit to a China Unicom store.

China Mobile still seems like a better deal and I have been pretty disappointed with CU's 3G data service. Very sketchy in the Guangdong area.

So, you're saying that he gets 240 mins/month of voice plus 300 mb/month of data for 6 active months and doesn't have to pay a dime more as long as he stays within these limits? 300mb is a bit on the light side, but would suffice for email and basic web surfing (i.e. steer clear of video clips and downloading large attachments).

I bought a china mobile SIM card a couple of visits back -- and now several contacts in beijing have this number for whenever I'm here, so I don't want to get a new SIM/number.

However, now that I have a smart phone, would appreciate using the features if possible. Can I get a sort of data top-up on my existing SIM card, and if so, how would I go about doing this?

Any help much appreciated.

tb

I bought a Unicom SIM recently for my Ipad. There are pre-paid choices with fixed data with 6 month and 12 month expiry. You need your passport with you and it is pretty simple to do.

I'm just trying to confirm whether or not after you bought this card you had to wait until the first day of the next calendar months before you could start using it? - it seems hard to believe but there are a lot of references to a policy of that sort in this and other sim-related threads.

As a print out of these two cards is right next to me, here some info.

To answer you question, the card gets activated immediately on the first use, you do not need to wait to the 1st of a month.

I assume you are referring to the aforementioned Unicom prepaid 6 and 12 month card with 3 and 6 GB, respectively?

China Unicom ("liantong") data options

Chinese version found here:
http://3g.10010.com/3gindex/3gfee/wirelesscard.html

Name:
Prepaid, 3 GB, 6 months, 50 text msgs, 300 CNY: 预付费3GB半年卡
Prepaid, 6 GB, 12 months, 100 text msgs, 600 CNY: 预付费6GB年卡

An additional traffic/ text msg: 0.10 yuan/MB, text msg, respectively.

Ask specifically for this card in a Unicom store.

Terms:
- 无线上网卡3GB半年卡套餐包含的流量和赠送的短信在180天内有效，6GB年卡套餐包含的流量和赠送的短 信在360天内有效。
- 在此期间内，如套餐内包含的流量用完，则有效期提前结束，未使用完的赠送短信作废，不能再使用。超过期限后 ，套餐未使用完的流量和未使用完的赠送短信同时作废，不能再使用。
- 本产品只允许使用激活，不允许充值激活。当用户首次上网或首次发送短信时激活本产品，其它方式 均不能激活。
- 本产品使用激活后立即扣除套餐费用并赠送相应的短信条数。
- 本产品的默认有效期为产品激活次日零时起计算的累计天数。有效期到期后，用户充值后可以继续使 用。

In short: The period starts running the first time you activate the card. You can only activate it by sending a text or using the internet. You cannot top up the card during the period. Any remaining credit after 180 or 360 days becomes invalid.


Post paid data options:
Same URL, overview:

80 CNY/Month 1 GB
150 CNY/Month 3 GB
200 CNY/Month 5 GB
300 CNY/Month 10 GB

Additional MB 0.10 CNY

For students
50 CNY/Month 600 MB

All prepaid options require a passport, nothing more.

Excellent, many thanks - looks like the 3GB card is perfect for my needs - and for Y300 is good value for me.... I only need coverage for 10 days, but really want to have data coverage all the time while in China so that I can use my smartphone to navigate/translate etc.

BTW, If anyone on FT would like the card after I leave China just pop me a PM with your address and I will mail it on as I leave.