any question about CHINA just ask me

lawker · **any question about CHINA just ask me -** 28-02-2007, 09:03

I live in Beijing, capital of China and I'm quite familiar with the GSM/CDMA call rate in beijing, also about some general information all over China, I can help to check detailed information in specific city too. So if you have any question, just ask hereunder and I'll try to reply ASAP.

As the beginning of information, for any people to have short visit to beijing, basiclly you need 20 RMB (chinese currency) per month for free incoming call, and about 0.2 RMB for outgoing call to beijing number and 0.3 RMB for other cities. The sim card may cost about 30 RMB and you can buy it at any place like newspaper stand. No contract, no personal information, no extra charges. But if you go other city of china with this card, it cost quite high because of roaming fee and long distance charge within china.

So personally I suggest an other SIM card issued by another service provider "China Unicom" (the most popular one is "China Mobile"), China Unicom provide both GSM and CDMA. In China, China Mobile and China Unicom are the only two mobile service provider, and only China Unicom provide CDMA service.

The SIM card I suggest is a GSM card issued by China Unicom--Shandong Province (the province is famous for its seashore resorts including some beautiful city like Qingdao, Yantai, and the most famous traditional cultural city of Confucianism), for any place within China, the incoming and outgoing cost is 0.4 RMB per minute, and it has no validity term, means even without any call, it will be good forever. Because its quite special, and because of the issued place, I guess most of the visitors to china can only buy it from online store, the card price is about 50 RMB. No contract and no personal information needed.

The question I'm interested is I visit Africa countries and Asia Pacific countries several times in a year, for each trip just about a week. China Mobile's roaming fee is quite high, I wish to find a good international GSM card with low roaming charge in africa and asia pacific region and also most important I wish the validity period is longer, I think United Mobile is quite good, any other good suggestion?

duminyricky · 29-06-2009, 08:34

Thanks for the great tip! I am planning to visit China probably April or May next year and I was thinking of finding cheap yet efficient SIM cards during my stay there. You've lessen my worries now. Thanks again!

RRunner · 13-07-2009, 22:27

Hi, even if this post is really old, I'm very interested in actual China gsm prepaid service.
I'm planning a month in China, travelling a lot, first stop in Beijing.
Is it possible to easy get a China Mobile (or other companies) prepaid sim card?
What kind of documents do I have to show?
Is it possible to use that sim card all over China, and to recharge it outside Beijing?
Is it possible to make international calls, and what's the rate?

Thanks a lot for any info, I'll try to pay back when I'll return to old Europe.

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	(#1)
lawker (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 1 Join Date: 28 Feb 2007 Country:	any question about CHINA just ask me - 28-02-2007, 09:03 I live in Beijing, capital of China and I'm quite familiar with the GSM/CDMA call rate in beijing, also about some general information all over China, I can help to check detailed information in specific city too. So if you have any question, just ask hereunder and I'll try to reply ASAP. As the beginning of information, for any people to have short visit to beijing, basiclly you need 20 RMB (chinese currency) per month for free incoming call, and about 0.2 RMB for outgoing call to beijing number and 0.3 RMB for other cities. The sim card may cost about 30 RMB and you can buy it at any place like newspaper stand. No contract, no personal information, no extra charges. But if you go other city of china with this card, it cost quite high because of roaming fee and long distance charge within china. So personally I suggest an other SIM card issued by another service provider "China Unicom" (the most popular one is "China Mobile"), China Unicom provide both GSM and CDMA. In China, China Mobile and China Unicom are the only two mobile service provider, and only China Unicom provide CDMA service. The SIM card I suggest is a GSM card issued by China Unicom--Shandong Province (the province is famous for its seashore resorts including some beautiful city like Qingdao, Yantai, and the most famous traditional cultural city of Confucianism), for any place within China, the incoming and outgoing cost is 0.4 RMB per minute, and it has no validity term, means even without any call, it will be good forever. Because its quite special, and because of the issued place, I guess most of the visitors to china can only buy it from online store, the card price is about 50 RMB. No contract and no personal information needed. The question I'm interested is I visit Africa countries and Asia Pacific countries several times in a year, for each trip just about a week. China Mobile's roaming fee is quite high, I wish to find a good international GSM card with low roaming charge in africa and asia pacific region and also most important I wish the validity period is longer, I think United Mobile is quite good, any other good suggestion?

	(#2)
duminyricky (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 3 Join Date: 17 Jun 2009 Country:	29-06-2009, 08:34 Thanks for the great tip! I am planning to visit China probably April or May next year and I was thinking of finding cheap yet efficient SIM cards during my stay there. You've lessen my worries now. Thanks again!

	(#3)
RRunner (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 6 Join Date: 05 Jul 2007 Country:	13-07-2009, 22:27 Hi, even if this post is really old, I'm very interested in actual China gsm prepaid service. I'm planning a month in China, travelling a lot, first stop in Beijing. Is it possible to easy get a China Mobile (or other companies) prepaid sim card? What kind of documents do I have to show? Is it possible to use that sim card all over China, and to recharge it outside Beijing? Is it possible to make international calls, and what's the rate? Thanks a lot for any info, I'll try to pay back when I'll return to old Europe.