Reasons to use a local SIM Card in China and an easy way to buy one online.
Introduction
Not so long ago, when you were visiting a "really" foreign country - for Europeans that would mean anywhere outside of Europe - you would usually either get a China SIM card or accept being cut out from the Internet every time you went out of your hotel. When we went to China, I was expecting the latter. It was lucky my mobile plan had some data included, because it turns out in China you can hardly survive without Internet when you are out - at least when you intend to buy anything. In Europe we mostly use traditional debit or credit cards, but in China everyone use some form of mobile payment - either AliPay or WeChat. And when I say everybody - I mean everybody. Shops, hotels, taxi drivers, outdoor food sellers, simply everyone.
Knowing that you need reliable Internet access the question is: what is the best way? Do you use your home country SIM card or buy Chinese SIM card? And if your mobile plan already includes data for China, is there any reason why you still might want a China card?
Why you should consider buying a China SIM card?
Most people who don't have a business phone or an expensive mobile plan do not have data included in their travel data package. As roaming is insanely expensive, you would need to buy a separate data plan and that would also not come cheaply.
The main reason that a local phone number is useful is that in China everything is done with a phone (usually through WeChat), not only payments. However, many of the services require a Chinese phone number. So if you want to be able to buy tickets yourself using your phone and skipping a queue, you need a local SIM card.
This happened to us when we visited Panda Breeding Research Center in Chengdu and only while queueing we found out that a) you can buy a ticket in WeChat b) we should have already done it a day in advance and c) we cannot do it because you need to provide a local phone number to do so. And for that reason we not only had to queue with thousands of people to get in, but also we were not sure whether there would be a ticket to purchase - big risk to take if you are traveling with kids, if you ask me. Having a China SIM card in China is a real time saver!
Magda
You will also discover that some businesses - hotels, tour operators, etc. - will provide only their phone number as contact detail, and they might not pick up when you are calling from a foreign number, which also happened to us a few times.
Which SIM card to choose?
Assuming you are not fluent in Mandarin, you definitely want a SIM card that has instructions in English, which is not the case for most of them as they are targeting local Chinese customers. Are there any SIM cards that would address concerns that travellers and expats might have?
Only recently I came across Nihao Mobile. It is actually as SIM card made with foreigners in mind, travellers and expats living in China alike.
First and foremost, the website has an English and German menu, so purchasing the SIM card is really easy and you can do it directly online. As long as you have a Chinese address - which can be hotel you will be staying in China - you can order it online before your trip. The card will be sent to that address, usually within 48 hours. You can then activate it upon arrival using your passport and a selfie taken with your phone. If only I had known this before our first trip!
They also have multiple data plans you can choose from based on your data needs - the starting price is only 88RMB per month for 20GB data package.
Here are some sample data plans from their website:
20GB data + 150min - 88 CNY/$13 a month
40GB data + 300min - 128 CNY/$18 a month
30GB data - 99 CNY/$14 a month
60GB data - 139 CNY/$20 a month
100GB data - 199 CNY/$28 a month
There is a possibility of suspending the plan for 0.49RMB per day and reactivate it later with the same number - which is a handy feature for frequent travellers. I paid 15CHF for additional 2GB in my mobile plan from Switzerland, so it would have definitely made sense to buy a China SIM card.
What is also interesting is that you can order maximum of 4 SIM cards - one of the reasons could be to have a separate card for work, personal use etc, but it is also an easy way to get a SIM card for your kids (if they already have a phone).
When is a data plan enough?
The biggest benefit of roaming is that you have access to all Western websites out of the box and need to think about VPN. So if you are going to China for a short holiday and you have a decent data plan, you not necessarily have to buy a local SIM card. However, usually the data package is not enough, especially if you are traveling around and you find yourself needing to use navigation, translation or stream a movie to kill time on a long train journey.
Conclusion: maximise your China trip with a local SIM card
Sure, you can survive a trip to China without a local card, but why bother when it is so easy to get one. During our first trip so many times we had to find workarounds.
Few times we have asked someone to buy a ticket for us (but that is often not possible as you often need to type your passport number when buying a ticket). Usually there is a manual counter in case you are not able to buy the ticket with your phone, but that can mean standing in a long queue - and why waste your time queueing for a ticket that should be at your fingertips, right on your phone!
My verdict: for our next trip we are definitely getting one - and I recommend you do the same. If it is so easy, I don't see a reason why not!
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