where to get China Sim Card in SG?

quanyou

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In China, only two airports have SIM card shops - Guangzhou airport & Shanghai Pudong. You don't need to show your passport. Just simply pay and get it.
Foreigners cannot buy at other places and shops as they need a local Identity card to register. Alternatively, you may buy it in black market or ask a local friend to do the registration with his IC.
Buying a SIM card in China is troublesome for a foreigner as they don't accept passport.


They do now... I got mine at the Unicomm shop in GZ city area. Used my passport for registration.
 

critical888

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unicom network is so so but usable, china mobile is actually the best, but not many phone can support.. if you ask any china local people, they usually will use china mobile.. rarely u find someone use unicom
 

swathe

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Anyone knows if Shanghai transit area sells SIM cards?
 

critical888

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Anyone knows if Shanghai transit area sells SIM cards?

i think u just get locally in sg easier, no need the passport verify etc, at least got problem can ask the seller

anything duno can ask me


one thing to note, you must be especially careful, for example u buy a shanghai sim, the data maybe only can use in shanghai only, if u go elsewhere example beijing, the data is charged differently, its not within the allocated data. So make sure you ask the seller, the data is ALL of china (全国流量) use right, not just (省内流量) just to ensure its not for that specific area only.

sometime they see u tourist maybe trick u, or maybe they dont even have knowledge of that part
 
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swathe

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google is churning out almost no relevant results for the prepaid SIMs in China. All I see are resellers.

Any info on prepaid cards that you all can share?
 

critical888

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google is churning out almost no relevant results for the prepaid SIMs in China. All I see are resellers.

Any info on prepaid cards that you all can share?

there is no info because legally, prepaid sim in china cannot register with passport

tourist only can register the monthly paid sim, here come the risk, coz its monthly paid u dont go terminate before you leave china , u be blackmark than next time u cant apply anymore because you would have owe many months of fee by than, may have to go personally back to the shop to terminate again.

prepaid sim is for local people, they only accept local china ic for registration..


we asian who used to facebook, twitter , LINE app and google etc, is not suitable for a china local sim actually due to the great firewall restriction, many sites that you used to use will have a hard time going in or cannot access at all.
 
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critical888

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Recently some china telco also have such data like NIGHT only data, 12am to morning, maybe 3gb of it , and added into the data plan, unknowingly you may think, wow so much data, and end up normal data used up, so becareful when you are buying. ask properly. for example the seller advertise as 3.5gb data, but actually 3gb is night data, only 500mb is for normal use.

other than that also take note of data for use in that particular province only (example guangdong only) or for use in all of china use data. must be clear

the network that has the best coverage in china is china mobile. The sim that is most compatible with our asian phone is china unicom.

Be it access facebook/youtube/twitter/instagram/line app in china, long term sim, shortterm sim, calling sim, data sim, china mobile china unicom , china telecom, come to me i will help u, just let me know your requirement i will find u a solution :D:D:D
 
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critical888

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A point to note, say if you are roaming in china with local sg telco

m1 roaming is on China mobile network, make sure your phone support TDD-LTE, if not you will be roaming on 2G network, which is so slow, buts its the cheapest among 3 telco (as per checking on march 2nd 2016)

singtel roaming is ok because its roaming on china mobile or china unicom

starhub roaming is ok too because roaming on china mobile or china unicom



But still in any case ,just grab a china sim in sg than go china and use, much more easier.

Any question feel free to msg me
 

Faiden

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Just get 太空卡 from any handphone shop once you reach the city you are travelling , or get your local contact to purchase a card or two for yourself , just tell them some crap , like i want to contact my 小三,without my wife / gf knowing...

Its RMB 10-20 per card , depends on where you purchase, Beijing/shanghai are slightly more expensive....
 

Iceman88

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Advice needed for China trip

Hi,
Will be going to China later this month for first time, undecided what is best way to stay connected. Area is Yongchun in Quanzhou, as well as Xiamen. Don't anticipate using phone very heavily but still need the capability when required. Basically just make a few local calls (to local POC, distant relative, maybe need to call local hotel or airline office), call back to Singapore to family if needed, use bit of data for email checking (can access Yahoo email in China?), whatsapp & light surfing if don't have free wifi to connect to.

Am on M1 and using Xiaomi Note 2 which I believe supports TDD-LTE, so can use China Mobile? The rates for pay-per-use roaming is alarming esp. data roaming at S$24/MB, meaning S$2,400/100MB!!! Is M1's $15/day unlimited data roaming plan worth using? Or should get one of those China prepaid SIMs mentioned earlier in this thread?

Thanks for advice or tips anyone can help with.
 

snowfieldkm

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I think you also can use you passport to apply a China local SIM card at the airport with foreigner plan.
 

Jason357

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Spare SIM cards for China use in SG

I've gotten extra roaming SIMs from my recent trip so if anyone needs please WhatsApp me 900988one5 for self collection in Singapore. S$39/pc, 1GB for your 5 days use. This card is from Hong Kong, it is considered Roaming. So not filtered by China.

I had used this in China recently and it saved my life! Can access Google, Facebook, Youtube, Googlemap, translator, WhatsApp, Skype, Yahoo, Gmail, Twitter etc with ease at 4G. I've gotten crystal clear calls on my whatsapp in mainland. The Great China Firewall now also blocks Straits Times and CNA.

Those from the local sellers will be in Chinese wordings & you have to use Baidu with the above services all blocked. You can't get this SIM in China. Cheers
 

extemporisation

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Going to GZ soon. Anybody who has been there recently can update on the prepaid SIM cards? Heard that there's a need to cancel the prepaid SIM card at the shop before departing... :s22:
 

xixi56

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I got my china sim card from qoo10 vendor Aquanix and it worked. I have only used it in Shanghai but it is meant for whole of China. Downside is it doesnt allow calls so if you are expecting a local call or sms, it will not work unless u uses wechat call, etc. This card doesnt allow top up. Also to share that when I reached Pudong airport, they are airport staff asking if we want local driver or sim card. Curious over the sim card, i walked down to their counter right after starbucks. I could probably get 3gb there for the price I paid for 1gb thru qoo10 and it seems like a legit seller
 

shawn_low

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Looking for a China SIM card...

Going for 1 month. Prefer Unicom or a HK Unicom.

Please PM me your contact. Thanks!
 
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