So, with one of these SIM cards, how much would a 5-minute call to the USA be?

I was told the 230RMB China Mobile card could call the US for about 120 mins.
Am not here for v long, so might not push that mark.

Calling USA with local mobile phone in China
 

From another fellow FTer:

The US international access code is 001.

Also, when calling from China, I use a code that saves me money (doesn't save much but you can get a couple more minutes out of a calling card). The code is 17951. Put in those numbers before the int'l. code.

So from China to US, I dial 17951 + 001 + areacode + number.


17951 will only work on a cell phone. The saving is actually rather significant. Calls from a cell phone to USA/Canada was RMB 8.00/min. With 17951, it's only RMB 2.40/min.

You can use 17951 to make any international call, not just to USA. The pattern is:
17951 + 00 + Country Code + Area Code + Local Number

00 is the international access code from China. That is needed in any international call. 1, in the example our friend gave above, is the country code for USA (and the same for Canada).

If you are calling from a land line, try using 17909. The pattern is the same:
17909 + 00 + Country Code + Area Code + Local Number

However, 17909 doesn't work everywhere. As far as I know, it works in most of the major cities, like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, etc.

Both number (or IP Access Code as they called it) could also be used to call in-country long distance calls. For example, if you are calling a Shanghai number from Beijing, or vice versa. The pattern in that case is:
17951 or 17909 + City Code + Local Number

For example, Shanghai's city code is 021, Beijing 010, Guangzhou 020, etc.

Although my data might be a bit stale given the pace of change in China, I was only charged 1.2 per minute for 17951 calls to the US.

In case the answer wasn't clear, each new prepaid SIM card you buy will have a different (and new) phone number.

LOL...when I indicated "from a fellow FTer", I was actually referring to you.

I kept a copy of your great advice and I'm sure your info is definitely up-to-date. All the more reason to use 17951.

Cool (and thanks for the reference). In any event, assuming you were quoting me directly, 2.4 was probably the number at that point in time (because I make a habit in referring to hard evidence), but as of ~1 year ago, 1.2 was definitely in effect (I checked my phone bills on a regular basis). Moreover, Unicom had much cheaper rates on offer (i.e. close to Skype), but I never went that route due to quality concerns.

In closing, the idea of international voice charges alarming accountants is rapidly disappearing because there are so many other ways to stay in touch these days (including data roaming services that lack the ability to discriminate against voice traffic). Due to the fact that most phone companies are cognizant of these facts, they have created means to stay competitive (i.e. rates should continue to trend towards zero). That having been said, they've reserved a special place in their hearts for the market segments that don't know/care.

At the risk of diluting my concluding paragraph (above), I feel compelled to highlight a personal example of the "old school":

-in spite of my numerous attempts to educate her (to the extent that I paid for many phone cards which she never used), my own mother frequently ran up $200+ phone bills just to converse with me,... in spite of that fact that she could do so for free if she were to pony up $30/month to the dreaded Comcast
-she sees no value in the latter and is also convinced that computers are impossibly complex
-only people like her should even dream of "renting" cell phones in China; the rest of us should continue to play it smart

China Mobile now provides international calls with special prefix 12593 in some cities. In Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong, if you have a local China Mobile SIM card, you can have low rate of 0.4 yuan/min for calls to US and Canada, no other charges.:):)