My daughter will be going to Beijing mid-March. We own a tiny little Panasonic phone (A102) that supports 900/1800/1900 Bands. We would like her to use it to a) call home and b) be able to reach others

We are assuming these facts:
Those bands will work in Beijing
She can get a SIM easily once she walks off the plane
She can recharge it with a variety of adaptors since China uses a variety of plug types.


What is the best network there for which to buy the SIM?

Is there some sort of call card that works in concert (when we were in Ireland, we bought an Irish SIM but then used a calling card with it to call US).

Thank you for any expertise.

topping

China Mobile is the largest cellular provider, and the prepaid SIM card they sell is called Shenzhouxing.

All my relatives use them while in China.

You can buy those SIM literally everywhere.

am assuming the phone is unlocked.

Here is a site with some info for you

http://digbig.com/4rnwy


Aloha!

not recommending the sim card on the site.....just some info on the site might answer some or most of your questions.

Thank you rkkwan and hawaiian traveler. I was able to get more info by Googling "Shenzhouxing" than just Chinese cells. That was quite helpful.

Yes, the phone is unlocked. We bought them years ago for around $49 each, although one came with a European battery charger! Here's a pic of the model:

http://panasonic.co.jp/pmc/products/en/a102/index.html

I see, hawaiian traveler why you directed me to that specific website--there's a sort of "ring back service" there. I'll make sure my daughter reads that.

Rkkwan, do your relatives use this type of service for international calls or what do they do?

josephina - Yes, they use their cells to call Hong Kong and US from China.

I don't know the detail, but one can use the Shenzhouxing card to make international calls via the Internet Protocol. A few more digits to dial, but significantly cheaper.

rrkwan...I can see what you posted on a former thread:

"You dial a number (17951) then 00, then the country code (1 for US/Canada), and so on, and the rate is 2.40RMB per minute or about 1/3 the cost of not using IP."

This is all Greek to me right now. I haven't a clue as to what Internet Protocal is, but I guess I'm going to get smart soon!

Thanks.

rrkwan: Every little new term certainly helps---Using "Internel Protocal" with the "Shenzhouxing" in a search took me to this forum and thread:
http://www.chinese-forums.com/showthread.php?t=3266

Thanks!