Travelling to China with the Mrs ....phone use

Madame Feathers

Hi, I am travelling to china for a 2 week training class.
we are both on the 48 network...would we be better off getting chinese sim's to stay in contact during the day? Both our phones are unlocked. TBH text messages would probabaly suffice.

smurfjed

The answer for this is usually YES as Irish companies can charge you over 6 euro per meg for data outside Europe. So try to get a Chinese sim when you land as it will give you peace of mind.

peckerhead

According to the 48 help forums, calls to mobiles and landlines cost €1.00 per minute, texts 25c, and you'll have no data.

Seems a no-brainer to get local SIMs, if your phones are unlocked?

the_syco

Check what bands phones will support, and what bands the chinese sims use.

NeitherJohn

the_syco wrote: »

Check what bands phones will support, and what bands the chinese sims use.

Last time I arrived in Shanghai, they had 3G/4G WiFi hotspot things you could buy and rent.

Would be an idea instead of having to swap out SIMS.

rossie1977

You can buy phone cards in the airport right after you go through immigration

Madame Feathers

OK i have express VPN installed on my phone and i can keep in contact with my family back home through FB messenger/whatsapp etc but if i put in a chinese sim into the phone will i be able to access my whatsapp a/c ?

munchkin_utd

Madame Feathers wrote: »

OK i have express VPN installed on my phone and i can keep in contact with my family back home through FB messenger/whatsapp etc but if i put in a chinese sim into the phone will i be able to access my whatsapp a/c ?

vpns are supposedly now all blocked , so maybe figure out whether you can do what you want to do in the first place, before worrying about data or which sim would be best.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

ED E

rossie1977 wrote: »

You can buy phone cards in the airport right after you go through immigration

And you're better off doing it there as you can't get Chinese Chinese SIM, just a foreigner Chinese SIM, the former needs a chinese ID.


VPNs are a mixed bag, they don't entirely block yet because they know there'd be an exodus of a certain portion of foreign residents if they did.

Fingers Mcginty

For anyone that's interested express VPN works a charm in China enabling you to use whatsapp, FB, Google and even netflix which is a Godsend if like most you're not into chinese TV. Also google translate is a great app.