{"id":839,"date":"2011-03-16T12:02:42","date_gmt":"2011-03-16T12:02:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/walking-ixus.net\/blog\/?p=839"},"modified":"2022-08-09T19:00:25","modified_gmt":"2022-08-10T03:00:25","slug":"china_mobile_prepaid_shanghai_","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/walking-ixus.net\/blog\/china_mobile_prepaid_shanghai_\/","title":{"rendered":"China Mobile Prepaid (Shanghai).  Get one!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walking-ixus.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/13480073017688064.jpeg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"525\" height=\"350\" data-attachment-id=\"1725\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/walking-ixus.net\/blog\/china_mobile_prepaid_shanghai_\/attachment\/13480073017688064\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walking-ixus.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/13480073017688064.jpeg?fit=720%2C480&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"720,480\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"13480073017688064\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;13480073017688064&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;13480073017688064&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walking-ixus.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/13480073017688064.jpeg?fit=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walking-ixus.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/13480073017688064.jpeg?fit=525%2C350&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walking-ixus.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/13480073017688064.jpeg?resize=525%2C350&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"13480073017688064\" class=\"wp-image-1725\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walking-ixus.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/13480073017688064.jpeg?w=720&amp;ssl=1 720w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walking-ixus.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/13480073017688064.jpeg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 525px) 100vw, 525px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>China Mobile is the world&#8217;s largest cell service provider and there are lots of locations to get top ups and such.  As a tourist however, you should visit a shop in an area where there are a lot of laowais. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>It just gets easier and easier to do things in Mainland China.&nbsp; During my last trip, I broke down and purchased a <a class=\"zem_slink\" title=\"China Mobile\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/China_Mobile\" rel=\"wikipedia\">China Mobile<\/a> prepaid SIM for use during my visit.&nbsp; It makes things a lot easier when you&#8217;re out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was a lot simpler to buy a SIM card than it was before.&nbsp; Here&#8217;s what you need to do:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1.&nbsp; Find a China Mobile (they have better coverage) store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2.&nbsp; Walk inside and ask if someone can help you in english (\u5bf9\u4e0d\u8d77\uff0c\u4f60\u4f1a\u8bf4\u82f1\u6587\u5417?).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>3. Bring Passport and <a class=\"zem_slink\" title=\"SIM lock\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/SIM_lock\" rel=\"wikipedia\">unlocked GSM phone<\/a>; the former to register your SIM card and the latter so the staff can test it out for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It really was that easy.&nbsp; Here&#8217;s a <a href=\"http:\/\/cnreviews.com\/china_travel\/china-cell-phone-information_20080909.html\">site<\/a> with more <a href=\"http:\/\/cnreviews.com\/china_travel\/china-cell-phone-information_20080909.html\">detailed information<\/a>.&nbsp; It&#8217;s a couple of years old, but the information is still valid.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I ran the SIM card on my unlocked Nexus One.&nbsp; Phone calls and SMSes went through fine.&nbsp; I was able to purchase a data bucket to run Google Maps, the internet, Foursquare and most importantly, <a class=\"zem_slink\" title=\"Google Translate\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Google_Translate\" rel=\"wikipedia\">Google Translate<\/a>! For standard GSM phones however, you will be running on EDGE.&nbsp; If you&#8217;re wanting 3G speed, I&#8217;ve read conflicting reports that <a class=\"zem_slink\" title=\"China Unicom\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/China_Unicom\" rel=\"wikipedia\">China Unicom<\/a> has a prepaid 3G service.&nbsp; Unlike most prepaid service in Asia, you can&#8217;t punch in a USSD code to pull up your balance or to purchase services.&nbsp; You need to call 10086 and press 2.&nbsp; Service is 24 hours and their English speaking staff is pretty good.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One more thing; <a href=\"http:\/\/mobile.boingo.com\/\">Boingo Mobile<\/a> works with a lot of the pay-hot spots around Shanghai.&nbsp; So if you have that service, you can always save your data by logging onto Wi-Fi.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, the moral of the story is: be adventurous and ask!&nbsp; Usually people will be nice enough to be helpful, especially if you try to speak Putonghua.&nbsp; Which I can&#8217;t.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a class=\"zemanta-pixie-a\" href=\"http:\/\/www.zemanta.com\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.zemanta.com\/zemified_e.png?w=525\" alt=\"Enhanced by Zemanta\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"zemanta-pixie\" style=\"margin-top: 10px; height: 15px;\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It just gets easier and easier to do things in Mainland China.&nbsp; During my last trip, I broke down and purchased a China Mobile prepaid SIM for use during my visit.&nbsp; It makes things a lot easier when you&#8217;re out there. It was a lot simpler to buy a SIM card than it was before.&nbsp; &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/walking-ixus.net\/blog\/china_mobile_prepaid_shanghai_\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;China Mobile Prepaid (Shanghai).  Get one!&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,4,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-compooper-stuff","category-good-travel-advice","category-overseas-travel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2mgIi-dx","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/walking-ixus.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/walking-ixus.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/walking-ixus.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walking-ixus.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walking-ixus.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=839"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/walking-ixus.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1726,"href":"https:\/\/walking-ixus.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839\/revisions\/1726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/walking-ixus.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walking-ixus.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walking-ixus.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}