swb001

I'll be travelling to various areas in mainland China next week. I have a blackberry 8830 world edition with an unlocked (according to Sprint) GSM. I was planning on getting a World Data Plan Pkg from Sprint for the 2 weeks I'm travelling which should get me access to emails.

However instead of using $2/min voice, I was thinking of purchasing China SIM. Does anyone have any information on SIMs, where purchased, how much, $/min, etc?

There is a China travel site that lists a price of $29 for the SIM which includeds $8 talk time and can be delivered to hotel. Rates back to US are $0.38/min. A contact in China says SIM rate is usually $1.20/min.

dtsm

Surf the China thread, tons of info. In short, easy to pick up sim card upon arrival, either at airport (slightly more) or anywhere in hotel/street vendor. Usual cost about RMB$120 for sim card with some minutes, buy additional top off cards in RMB 100 units.

weekilter

You can get a China Mobile or China Unicom SIM for RMB80 (€8.47) with local talk rate at RMB .6 - .8 per call (€.06 - .08) 35¢/minute to call the US or Canada.

http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/china.html

tkflyer

Any info on data services. Checking email or tethering to laptop?

hfly

You can walk into any of the 999,999 Chima Mobile or Unicom stores in China, pay a small amount of money and get a SIM, there is no real registration other than paying for them.

czhang

Choose the China Mobile M-Zone SIM card for GPRS/EDGE. Usually 50-100 RMB and you can recharge in various quantities, 20/50/100/etc. Data without a plan is 0.1RMB/KB or you can sign up for a plan 30/70/150/500/etc monthly for 5/19/20/50/etc RMB.

I'm not sure about getting 3G-enabled Unicom SIMs though...

everdown

Here in Beijing, there is (normally) a woman standing at a little desk on the way out of baggage claim for domestic flights selling SIM cards. Depending on your need, I think they cost either 50-100rmb. In the international terminal, you can find SIM vending machines that present options from the three main service providers, but I am fairly certain it only accepts rmb.

You can get 3G service from China Unicom, offering something like a pay-as-you-go plan. They require a passport to register. My plan for my iPhone (2gb/month plus 500 minutes and unlimited text) is about 200rmb a month.

You can also pick up a ChinaMobile (recommended for Edge) or ChinaTelecom card from most magazine stands and also from shops close to hotels and well as from the ChinaMobile/Telecom/Unicom stores that you can find all over the place.

Also, buy the card in a major city. The cards are often regionally locked and will not always work if purchased in another city. Wuhan cards are an example.

Doug Johnson

I’ve answered a few questions about SIMs here on Flyertalk and people seem to appreciate the help. (I don’t promote any products, just try to provide information for travellers with questions, but full disclosure, I am not unbiased. I’m posting under my real name and am director of marketing for Brightroam.com.)

My first comment is that when you read about a massive several thousand dollar roaming bill, its always someone using data at the roaming rate. China is a very competitive market and data plans are very reasonable: rate are comparable with US rates. So there’s really no need to pay roaming charges. (Even if you have a locked phone – and you don’t want to unlock it - it’s probably cheaper to purchase an inexpensive unlocked phone carrying a China SIM and tether it to your favorite smartphone or laptop, than to pay the roaming rate.)

It is possible to get a China SIM with a data plan before you leave. The main advantage is that the voice and text rates on the SIM back to North America, are lower because the Sims sold in North America are designed for North Americans. (Local SIMs are designed for locals and the rates for international calls can be quite high.) You may also find that ordering in English is more convenient. It’s possible to order monthly plans - for as many months as you need - it before you leave, eliminating the need to top up locally.

MiFi – or mobile hotspot - is another option if you don’t want to unlock your phone. It’s a particularly attractive option if you’re travelling in a group. (In fact, just I talked with a Flyertalk member who purchased a single large data plan on a SIM which he placed in a MiFI. His family then tethered to the MiFI. The family had voice only SIMs, eliminating the need to purchase a data plan for each family member. A little overkill for most, but a good example that with just a little bit of planning it is possible to use your phone exactly how you want – even if you want to stream videos – when you travel at a reasonable cost.)

boerne

heading to Shanghai for 2 weeks, in 2 weeks. I have that Galaxy nexus ICS that google is selling unlocked. I dont want to talk, i want data. China Unicom looks best. suggestions?

moondog

Go to the electronics market on Xiangyang Rd. @ Fuxing Rd. I have a WCDMA Unicom SIM that cost me y300, and is good for 6 months (data only; i.e. no phone number attached). In your case, I believe they sell CDMA SIMS (a little slower) for y100 that you just burn through and toss (these have phone numbers, as well).

While going to the Xiangyang Electronics Market may be annoying for you, this approach is FAR superior to visiting a Unicom store (just trust me). A newspaper stand would be the easiest, but none of the ones near me sell data SIMS (well, they do, but you need to go to a Unicom store activate a data plan, which sort of defeats the purpose). Furthermore, while you're at Xiangyang, you'll have an opportunity to pick up some random gadgets (e.g. they sell USB chargers that support every device under the sun for around y25).

sonofzeus

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Doug Johnson

Those are good suggestions. China is a very competitive market, so you really can't go too wrong.

There a couple of advantages to having a SIM card sent before you leave. (Other than not needing to find a retail location or worry about activation.)

If you every do need to make calls back home you can get better rates.
You can get your NA phone forwarded.
You can make calls as soon as your plane lands.

You can also start using Google Maps soon as soon as you land. (I'm finding that more and more people are really relying on Google Maps when they travel.)

I've also found that some people don't have a good idea of how much data they are using. (i.e. they'll buy a 40 MB plan and start watching videos.) It is possible to buy small cheap plans. They designed mostly for checking emails. If you want to watch videos - or download attachments - I recommend at least a GB per month. Especially in China where you get 2Gb for $39.

jamar

Uh, I pay sonething like $15/month for 3GB.

Doug Johnson

That’s an excellent point jamar, but I think it’s important to point out that even experienced travelers may not be experienced travelling in China and may not have the time or local knowledge to get the lowest possible price. And, in my opinion, that’s perfectly OK.

We get hundreds of calls from travellers every week. Every day we hear a horror story from someone who thought getting a SIM card was too confusing or too inconvenient. . A $400 roaming bill even though they never used their iPhone, just because they forgot to turn off roaming data. Another customer phoned his carrier, thought the data plans were a rip off, had to check a few emails on his trip, got a $800 bill and because the carrier had his voice on tape, informing him of the roaming rates, they wouldn’t discount the bill one penny.
AT&T’s sells thousands of 800 MB China data plans for $199.99. So I think it’s important to point out that there are extremely convenient options available for people who don’t speak Mandarin or aren’t comfortable shopping around a foreign city. And that you can save over $150 by getting a SIM card data plan and the amount you save by shopping around for the best deal is on a SIM card data plan is $20 or so.

There are some other issues too when using smart phones, like configuring your APN. For some people, it’s a piece of cake, but we have lots of customers who like us to email the APN profile to them so they don’t need to type anything or fool around with the settings.

But, as you guys point out, there are some excellent deals in China. And, in fact, you can save even more buying the phone in China than you can buying the SIM there. (All the travel phones we sell here in North America are manufactured in China. They are all cheaper over there.).

Like I said. China is very competitive. Lots of opportunity to get the lowest possible price, lots of options if saving time is more important than saving money and lots of people who are willing to help you if you want to avoid some of the hassles. There are good options for everyone.

sonofzeus

No US warranty and no liabilty if the batteries explode make the no-name Chinese direct to you products a bad bet.