Can a Card Reader Read a Sim Card

How can you get China SIM cards? And which China SIM menu is best? While some travelers have the choice to activate the international roaming on their home land phone plans, that'south either really expensive or not a proficient option for those who will be in Prc long-term. The all-time solution is to go your own Chinese SIM card. Here'south how.

Having traveled around Asia for over 15 years, I highly recommend traveling through People's republic of china with a smartphone.

You can go map directions, use Chinese vocalization translators, utilise the popular WeChat app, book Chinese trains, and then much more. In brusque, your smart phone can accept all the almost common pains out of traveling then you tin can focus more on having a proficient fourth dimension.

But to do all these things, yous need network access for your phone, which oft requires buying a local Mainland china SIM card.

For those who may not know, a SIM carte (brusk for "subscriber identity module") is that little card that goes inside your phone that connects you to local service (phone, text, internet). You may not know information technology'southward there…but it is.

Overall I recommend three means to connect to Communist china's mobile network using your telephone:

1. Purchase a PrePaid SIM Card: If you know for sure that your phone is unlocked, you can purchase a Chinese SIM card prior to your inflow in China.
2. Purchase a SIM Card in China: If y'all're already in Mainland china or if it's too tardily to buy a prepaid China SIM card, you can always visit the part of a local service provider in China to become a SIM card. This selection takes time, however, then I wouldn't brand this your principal choice.
3. Rent a Telephone / International Roaming: If your telephone isn't unlocked but you notwithstanding need to apply a phone in China, you tin can either rent a phone or apply international roaming with your domicile carrier.

Before I proceed about SIM cards, it's worth noting that if all you need is internet admission, you tin can always look into your options for getting reliable WiFi in China. In that location are drawbacks to this method, but in some means it is easier than trying to get a People's republic of china SIM carte.

In order to ameliorate understand how to use your mobile telephone internationally or how China treats cellular customers, let'south kickoff off with some basics of Chinese SIM cards.

Notation: Some links in this article are chapter links, which ways that at no extra price to you, I may be compensated if you choose to use one of the services listed. I only recommend what I've personally used, and I appreciate your support!

The Basics – Using a China SIM Card

Although using a SIM card with any phone is generally as easy as inserting it in your phone, there are a couple basic (but incredibly important!) things yous should know before ownership one for Cathay.

Let'southward run through the most important ones.

Your Phone Must Be Unlocked (Important!)

First thing to know is that your telephone needs to be unlocked to utilise a China SIM card.

If you lot purchased your phone at a disbelieve (east.g. AT&T or Verizon subsidized the phone or gave it to you "free"), or you lot currently lease your phone, information technology'southward likely your phone is locked by your carrier.

Unfortunately, if this is the case you tin't use a China SIM card.

Until you make a request to your carrier and in some cases pay off the remainder of your telephone entirely, that mobile phone will remain "locked" into that service provider.

Notwithstanding non certain if your phone is unlocked?

If then, use one of the resources I list below to cheque if the phone is unlocked.

If it is, y'all can contact your phone carrier and explain you need the unlock code for your trip to China. As long as you don't have any outstanding balances on your account, your wireless carrier generally will have zero objections to unlocking your telephone.

Expect this process to accept a few days, so plan alee should your trip to Communist china be coming up.

SIM Cards in Communist china Expire with No Use

During my second trip to Communist china, I was surprised to find out later landing that my previous telephone plan no longer worked, despite having enough of credit leftover from the previous trip.

This happened because Chinese telephone providers cancel unused SIM cards afterward a certain amount of time (unlike for each carrier).

You'll want to be conscientious not to buy your Chinese SIM card too far in advance.

In one case you buy a prepaid China SIM carte du jour, information technology may but terminal 30 days upon activation. And then time your purchase accordingly and request for your SIM card to activate on the day yous state in Prc.

Retrieve to as well only buy enough credit to last you for your trip. Even if yous do revisit China, your leftover credit will likely exist forfeited after 30 or 60 days.

Don't worry, you tin can always top up your phone in Red china if you run out of credit.

You Must Register to Activate Your Mainland china SIM Carte

The Chinese government requires existent-name registration to activate a SIM bill of fare.

If you buy a pre-paid Chinese SIM carte du jour earlier y'all get out (which I recommend), this means providing your passport.

When buying a prepaid China SIM carte, don't be surprised when the company requires you to send in a photocopy of your passport. Information technology'south an unavoidable part of the procedure to activate the SIM card.

If you lot purchase the SIM card within China, this could mean providing bio-metric information such as a face up browse and fingerprints in addition to your passport.

Best People's republic of china SIM Bill of fare (Recommendation)

Whether you're purchasing a prepaid China SIM card before you lot arrive or you've decided to purchase a SIM card from within Cathay at a local telecom part, it helps to know what'due south available and which are the offers for the best Prc SIM card program.

I'm ever an advocate for things that brand traveling in China piece of cake. So my top choice for the best SIM menu for Prc is one that can exist easily purchased online prior to your arrival and that works with pretty many any phone that you might take.

---

Prepaid China Unicom SIM Carte (3GSolutions) *Recommended*

• 100 minutes of outgoing calls
• three GB of data (with option to upgrade)
• 50 SMS text messages
• Valid for xxx days upon activation
• Tech Back up through WhatsApp in China

While 50 SMS text messages seems low, these days everyone is messaging through WeChat in China and you tin can e'er utilize WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger (although these volition require a VPN for China) to chat with folks at abode with the 3 GB of included data.

The only downside to purchasing 3G Solutions' prepaid People's republic of china SIM card is that it is more expensive than what yous would normally pay should you buy i at whatever store after arriving in China.

But hey, that's the price of convenience. Instead of standing in line and spending an hr or two trying to communicate what you need to a salesperson, yous selection what y'all want online, prepay and have the SIM card delivered to your door.

Should you determine on waiting to buy a SIM card until after you go far in China, I've shared the top plans for Prc Unicom and China Mobile below.

Red china Phone Plans (Purchased in Cathay)

There are 3 major cellular providers in China:

• Communist china Telecom
• China Unicom
• Communist china Mobile

Unfortunately, Cathay Telecom SIM cards don't work with phones purchased outside of Mainland china, so even though you lot'll see enough of Prc Telecom stores in China, you'll want to stick with either China Unicom or Prc Mobile.

While Communist china Mobile is the market place leader in Communist china and generally has the best nationwide coverage, China Unicom is compatible with more foreign phones, allowing them to access both 3G and 4G service. That being said, I've used both services and had good experiences either manner, so it'southward hard to go wrong!

If you lot're going to purchase a SIM card in China, here are my recommendations for the best Red china SIM carte du jour program for each carrier.

When visiting a Red china Unicom store, I'd go with the "Nationwide Data King" plan (全国流量王/ Quánguó liúliàng wáng) for 2019. Hither are the details for the program:

• 69 RMB prepaid monthly
• x GB of nationwide information
• 500 minutes of outgoing nationwide calls
• Incoming calls and SMS text letters are gratis
• Additional outgoing calls are 0.15 RMB/minute
• Additional information charges are x RMB/100MB and thirty RMB /1GB

Most strange phones won't work with Communist china Mobile's 3G network, so you'll exist pushed to their 4G coverage where bachelor (2G where not available). Here are the details for their best phone plan plan for 2019:

• 88 RMB prepaid monthly
• ten GB of nationwide data coverage.
• 50 minutes of outgoing nationwide calls.
• Incoming calls and SMS text messages are free.
• Boosted outgoing calls are 0.19 RMB/minute.
• Additional information slows down to 1 mbps until you lot summit off your carte du jour.

Communist china Mobile Details

In general, if y'all're using a foreign phone, I recommend China Unicom over Cathay Mobile.

Why?

China Unicom is most compatible with foreign phones and you tin use both 4G and 3G service. I've also never experienced any existent issues in service in major Chinese cities and their plans are really cheap for what you become!

Mainland china Mobile ranks #1 in coverage throughout China, merely since their 3G service by and large isn't compatible with phones purchased outside of Prc, anywhere where in that location isn't 4G coverage you'll automatically get bumped down to the painfully slow 2G service.

DISCOUNTS: As with any business concern, you'll often run across special promotions or discounts being offered in-store at both China Mobile and China Unicom. Sometimes these can be actually good deals if you lot plan to exist in Red china for a long while, but if your demand of a China SIM card is short-term, it's best to stick with the to a higher place recommended plans.

How to Top Up Prc SIM Cards

Information technology'southward quite possible that you run into a point where they utilise upwards all your phone or data credit and cannot make approachable calls, text messages, and lose the ability to access the Internet.

There are several ways for "topping up" your Cathay SIM card when you run out of credit.

1. Top Up At a Local Shop. You can visit any one of your mobile carrier'southward stores and give them your phone number and greenbacks. They will take that every bit a hint that y'all need more credit added to your People's republic of china SIM bill of fare. This method always works but, depending on the line, can take quite a while to attain.
2. Superlative up through Alipay or WeChat Pay. While this is arguably the easiest and fastest way, you need a local Chinese depository financial institution account or money in your Alipay/WeChat Pay wallets to tiptop up. If you don't have a Chinese bank account, you can ever mitt a Chinese friend some cash and they can top upward your Chinese SIM carte du jour for yous.
3. *Recommended* Top Upward Online: Past far the easiest way to top up if you can't use WeChat/Alipay is to top up online if you purchased your SIM card through 3GSolutions. Y'all tin can proceed their website, select how much credit you want to add and pay with Paypal or a credit card.

I personally prefer topping up using Alipay or WeChat pay.

For travelers without a Chinese bank account, however, using 3G Solutions to add credit to your phone plan, while more expensive, is faster and easier than ownership a top off card or adding credit at a store.

Using a Phone in China | 6 Crucial Tips

Finally, to maximize the use of your Prc SIM card or if you lot want to consider alternatives to buying a China phone program entirely, I've got six crucial tips for you:

1. Retrieve that Mainland china actively censors Cyberspace content including websites and apps like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, WhatsApp and many, many more blocked websites. And so to share stories and photos with your friend during your journey, I'd buy a VPN before y'all get out to go around the Internet censors (such as ExpressVPN), otherwise it's much harder to do so in one case yous make it since the VPN websites are blocked. Thankfully, in that location are even so ways to install a VPN from inside Red china.
2. As mentioned above, the easiest mode to buy a prepaid China SIM carte du jour before you lot depart for China. This can easily free up an entire morn or afternoon to see other things in Prc instead of waiting and trying to figure out telephone plans.
3. It can be easy to run out of phone credit quickly in Communist china especially if you are consuming heavy data usage services similar streaming and video chat. If you have a plan with less data than you would normally use at abode, use your phone sparingly and then you can avoid having to top off your phone program multiple times.
4. If all you lot need is Internet access and don't see yourself needing to make whatever telephone calls, consider instead renting or buying a global WiFi hotspot device for your trip.
5. It's no secret that the Chinese government monitors communication you send through WeChat and I for one do non like the idea of my passport tied to a Communist china SIM card for privacy purposes. Fifty-fifty businesses restrict their own devices being used in China out of concerns for intellectual belongings theft, so I'd consider renting a phone for China during your trip. This is also a good pick if your phone carrier won't agree to unlock your telephone.
6. Lastly, you tin e'er consider non dealing with the hassle of getting a China SIM card by using your ain cellular provider in Cathay. Keeping mind, though, that the international roaming charges can potentially run you a fortune. This option definitely wins for convenience, but can easily break the banking company for budget travelers.

Terminal Thoughts | China SIM Menu

As a seasoned traveler in China, I definitely think it's worth having a local telephone plan for your trip to China. Overall, I find buying ane online easiest (particularly a prepaid People's republic of china SIM card) and there are many ways to acme off your plan should y'all run out of credit.

If getting a SIM card is something you truly don't desire to practice, then I would settle for global WiFi equally a reliable and affordable alternative for accessing the Internet.

Don't forget to also get yourself a VPN before you go out so you tin can access blocked websites and apps similar Facebook and Instagram. There are many good VPN providers out there, merely I personally prefer ExpressVPN.

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Source: https://www.travelchinacheaper.com/china-sim-cards-guide

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