Finding and Setting up a Cell Phone in China
- Kathy Block, China Primer
In order to use a cell phone in China, the cell phone must meet the following minimum requirements:
- Must be a GSM phone
- Have frequency bands of 900 MHz and 1800 MHz
- Be unlocked
Mobile phones in China are GSM phones (Global System for Mobile communications) which refers to the specific type of cell phone service that the cell phone operates on. GSM is the international standard and is available in over 200 countries. If you live in North America, however, you’re out of luck as most phones in the US operate on CDMA or TDMA.
There are now four different frequency bands used by GSM phones. Most countries outside of the US use a combination of the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz frequency bands. However, in the US, they use a combination of the 850 MHz and 1900 MHz frequency bands. Ideally, all phones would support all four bands. However, it is rare to find a quad band phone. Most support only two or three bands.
Be sure to buy a phone that has an unlockable SIM feature (where you can swap out your current SIM card with a Chinese SIM card). If you bought your phone from a regular wireless service provider in your home country, they may have locked your phone so that it will only work with their SIM. Phones can be unlocked by entering a special code. Sometimes, your provider can provide you with this code (but usually are not too motivated to do so as this means they could be losing you as a customer).
Renting vs. Buying a Mobile Phone
If you would like to have a mobile phone before you leave for your trip, there is an option to rent the phone through one of a few services that offer rental phone service in China (such as Panda Phone). Renting a phone is usually quite expensive especially over longer periods of time and you may find that having to rent a phone a couple of times could exceed the cost to purchase a brand new phone. In that case, you may want to consider the option of buying a phone.
Buying a phone in China, however, can be anywhere from a simple task to a huge headache since it will first require for you to physically go to a local shop or store in town to purchase the phone. The first types of store you can go to is the kind located inside a large electronics malls filled with up to a hundred different stalls all selling the same selection of phones. Here the prices can vary greatly from one store to the next as the prices are not set and you are always expected to negotiate. The burden is therefore left on you to bargain for a fair price.
Another option is to go to one of the large electronic chain department stores such as Guomei, Yongle or Suning. Carrefour also sells mobile phones. At these larger chain stores, the products are usually priced to market (but if you’re buying several things you can sometimes bargain for an additional 5-10% discount!). It always helps to do some of your own research online to know how much you should be paying.
If you don’t already have a SIM card, you can purchase a prepaid SIM card at any one of several China Mobile offices around the city. You buy credits in increments of 100 RMB. As your SIM runs out of credits you can purchase recharge cards at either China Mobile office or some of the small convenient stores such as All Days or Ke Di.
Related Articles:
Chinese Visa - Getting a Travel Visa
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