What cell phones plans work in China, if any?

China, like most of the world (except US/Canada and Japan), use GSM 900/1800. If you have T-Mobile USA, and a tri-band phone, your phone will work, but at US$2.99 a minute.

If you have an unlocked GSM phone with 900/1800 MHz, you can just buy a SIM card once you get to China. Seems like SIMs are sold everywhere. The rate will be much much lower than US$2.99 a minute, but of course you will then have a Chinese number, not your US one.

The coverage is pretty extensive too. We were on the Great Wall at Mutianyu and my husband's tri-band rang. He was able to take care of an important work matter while taking in one of the most incredible views in the world!

Where can a SIM card be purchased in China? We've purchased SIM cards in Europe, but need my son will need a Chinese SIM card this summer?

Sim cards can be purchased as soon as one gets off the airplane -- on the way to baggage claim, there are kiosks where attendants will sell you a card

Can someone tell me what a SIM card is? I will need a cell phone within China and I don't think I presentaly have a phone that is 900/1800 MHz. Can I rent a cell there? Is that inexpensive or is there an easier way to go? Please speak English as I'm a novice on the technological side of this phone business. Thanks

A sim card is a very small piece of cardboard that you insert in a phone. It contains the phone’s number and allows you to make calls. You can purchase them with a set value, say the equivalent of US$50, and once you have made calls up to that value, you either buy another card or have a new value added to the existing sim chard (depends on the country). You can buy a sim card for each country you are in, making local calls within that country relatively cheap. People calling you from the US will pay international long distance charges, and you will pay international long distance if you call them. Of course, people calling you have to first know your number, so you either have to call them to tell them the number, or send an e-mail. Each sim card has a different number, so using a local sim card is not always the best way to be able to be easily reachable to people in the US.

You first need a dual or tri-band band phone which will work in China. What do you need the cell phone for? Receiving calls from the US, maybe occasionally checking voice mail? In that case, I would just buy a dual or tri band phone in the US from your local carrier and get international calling added to your current calling plan. You will have a US number which you can give to people before you leave, and the number won’t change. AT&T has this service and charges I think about $2 a month plus the cost of the calls. You can activate the service for a month and then deactivate it when you return. The phone will work in all countries except Japan, which is great if you plan to continue to travel abroad.

If you don’t want to use your carrier’s calling plan, you can purchase a phone once you get to Asia or try to purchase an "unlocked" phone in the US before you leave. By way of background, if you buy a new phone through Verizon, AT&T etc as part of a calling plan, then the phone is "locked" to them and you cannot insert a local sim card. If you want to use a local sim card, then you have to try to get your provider to "unlock" the phone. In my experience, Verizon, AT&T etc will not unlock any of the phones they sell with calling plans. (They want you to use their service worldwide.) I understand that T Mobile does agree to do this more readily, so you might want to look into buying a phone from T Mobile. I have seen ads on e-bay and other places selling "unlocked" phones. You might run a search on the European board for “unlocked phones” as this is a popular topic there.

Unless you speak a Chinese dialect, I don’t think you will find a phone of much use locally, as there will be few places you could call. You could call your hotel and maybe some restaurants, but language will be a barrier elsewhere. I don’t think even emergency operators speak English, perhaps in major cities, but I would doubt it. I would not get a phone just because you think you need it for “emergencies” as you are better off finding a live local person to help in that case. Also, there are still old fashioned coin operated phones in all countries.

Renting a phone would generally be expensive and I would not recommend it. You should either buy a dual or tri band phone now in the US or buy one when you get to Asia.

Also remember that internet cafes abound in Asia and this may be the best way to stay in touch. Take a look at cybercafe.com for a list of internet cafes by city/country.

Royben I am renting a phone in CHina thru "Pandaphone.com". We are travelling independently with the help of a remote tour guide and want to be in touch. I found this company myself on line, but our guide has heard of it.
They will deliver and pick up at different locations, or you can return the phone from the States as they have offices here.

I will return on April 9 from China and will post how well this worked.

May I add my two cents in ...
I do not know about buying phones in China, but if you will be in Hong Kong, it is just as easy to buy a new tri- or quad-band GSM phone there. You can either use your American SIM in that new phone or buy a local SIM. I've done this to upgrade my phone twice already because I think phones are cheaper and new models come out quicker in Hong Kong. And, the phones are always unlocked. I just put my T-Mobile SIM in the phone and have used it everywhere, from China to Europe to South Africa. Regarding the issue of warranty, a phone that my husband bought in HK did have a problem, but he just sent it back to Sony Ericsson and got a new replacement. Of course, whether this is an option also depends on how often you need a phone overseas. If it's just for one trip, then it's probably not worth it.

If you are not a frequent world traveller, perhaps you want to consider Verizon's global rental plan (866-294-1329).

The daily rental rate will be $4 (beginning 3/15). Calling rate is $1.5 per minute for incoming and outgoing calls. The shipping charge is $22 (r/t). Before they ship you the phone, they will pre-set the phone so that it will automatically turn on and off on your requested dates.

There is a deposit of $300 charged to your credit card.

Check it out by calling that toll free 866 number. I am not sure the per minute rate also applies to incoming or outgoing calls to US.

By the way, you can also buy a triband GSM phone from them at a price of $150 to $300 depending on model. In that case the monthly access is $10 (don't know if monthly access can only apply for the month you are gone)

I know one of the cheapest ways is to buy a new unlocked, triband (900/1800/1900 Mhz) GSM phone from say EBay - about $100 including shipping. Upon arrival at a particular country, you can purchase that country specific prepaid sim card. In general, for these country specific prepaid sim cards, ANY incoming calls including from US or other countries, are free! I am not sure but I think you can buy these cards in this country via internet, of course at a higher price.

I have been learning about this unlocked, triband GSM phone for the last month. There is a lot to be learned. Take your time to evaluate. I believe the postings here will give you an excellent start.

Just want to say that I agree with most that's been said on this thread. Exception is that it's not cheap to buy a brand new phone in Hong Kong. Because you don't get subsidized by any carrier, you'll be for the hardware yourself.

It is almost cheaper to buy an unlocked phone on eBay here, or get a phone from your carrier and have it unlocked.

For example, I use a Sony Erisson T610 here and in Hong Kong. Buying it outright in HK will cost about HK$1,500 at the least (~US$200). But I got mine for $49 after rebate from T-Mobile, after I extend my contract for another year. Even after the cost of having it unlocked, it's still a lot cheaper than buying it new in Hong Kong.

rkkwan --
I guess you are right because you do get a discount from the carrier here when you sign a contract, but I haven't had a contract with a carrier for years, especially now that I can bring my number to any carrier. My brother is in the cell phone biz in HK, so I guess he always found me pretty good deals. ;-)

I contacted verison and our U.S. phone will work in China. The rate appears to be $.69 a minute.

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/m...dmaroaming.jsp

That $.69/min charge is just for roaming. Calling back to the US will cost at least another $.65/min more for long distance charge, plus other fees. Still, that's not bad. T-Mobile USA wants $2.99/min for any call from China.

And if one's calling locally within China, than there won't be long distance rate, or the rate will be lower.

Klgallo,
Actually the Verizon site states "$0.69/minute plus pass through of serving carrier's tolls, taxes and surcharges" - that leaves it pretty wide open as to what the actual charges will be on outgoing calls.

Then it goes on to state "International long distance charges which vary by country between 20¢/min. and $9.17/min. apply in addition to roaming charges on incoming calls and voice mails. (See international LD rate table for a list of rates by country)" - I would interpret that to mean that the $0.65 per minute additional long distance charge posted on the rate table applies ONLY to voicemail and incoming calls received and does NOT represent the outgoing long distance rate.

I very much doubt that calling back to the US would cost only $1.34 per minute ($0.69 + $0.65) with Verizon as most other US based carriers charge in excess of $2 per minute for flat rate roaming (incoming and outgoing) in China.

I'd definitely give Verizon a call to verify before you leave.

we just returned from China. I had called Verizon a couple of time just to make sure my tri-band phone will work in China - they kept assuring me that my particular phone WILL work. However after an awful experience trying to call out from Cabo San Lucas, I really didn't trust Verizon. So I rented a phone prior to departure from WorldRent (part of Verizon) and had my calls forwarded to the rented phone. I also brought my moto phone just in case, and if it did work, I would simply not have to turn on my rented Nokia.

Once in china, I turned my own mobile on and lo and behold it does work.... the roaming worked BUT I couldn't call out. On a GSM phone with a sim card, there is a + next to the button with the asterisk *, you need that to dial out!!

Long story short.... don't trust Verizon! don't really understand why U.S. cellphone service just refuses to make it easier for people to use their U.S. phones overseas like everyone else in the world.

To dial "+" on most phones, you hold the "0" button until it's changed to "+".

"+" is the code for dialing international. From the US, one can dial "011" or "+", but it may be different in other countries, and therefore the universal "+".

unfortunately, my "sucky" motorola phone does not have the option for the "+" regardless of how long I hold down "0" or "*" - can't wait till March 2006 when my contract ends so I can change phones without having to pay a heavy premium on the newer models.