3 ms·

“until you open a bank account and get a local phone number.” You won’t be able to get a SIM card either unless you are a Chinese citizen(or have a citizen get

“until you open a bank account and get a local phone number.” You won’t be able to get a SIM card either unless you are a Chinese citizen(or have a citizen get one for you)

rahimnathwani 8y ago
This is untrue. Foreigners can easily get a SIM card. Just walk into a China Unicom or China Mobile store, with your passport.
EZ-E 8y ago
This is not true, you can get a Chinese number and SIM card with a passport in any of the big telecom operators stores
yorwba 8y ago
All large mobile providers have offerings targeted specifically at foreigners (e.g. https://www.mychinaunicom.com/ https://www.mychinaunicom.com/) and getting a Chinese SIM is one of the first things to do for exchange students in China. Maybe those are all registered on a random citizen's ID, but given the scale and visibility of that business, it seems unlikely that all of that is happening in violation of the registration requirements.
arnvald 8y ago
I got one using foreign passport. However in the first shop I tried I was told I need Chinese ID. In the 2nd shop there were no problems
- AznHisoka 8y ago
  Yep, It appears that I'm not 100% accurate. Some China Mobile/Telecom chains, in general, will refuse to sell SIM cards to foreigners, even if you got a passport. China Unicom, however will sell them to you, if you got a passport. So the responses here are also not 100% accurate, if I'm being fair :)
  - giardini 8y ago
    You were pretty accurate! Have a group of friends touring China right now. They tried for days to get a SIM card but finally gave up - nobody would sell one to them! The only place they did not try was a vendor at the airport where they arrived. They judged that vendor would be overpriced so waited until they got into the city.
    - AznHisoka 8y ago
      Yep. I feel the people who responded don't know the latest rules happening in China. Even a few months ago, it was pretty easy to get a SIM card in China. But they have tightened things up a bit.
jason_slack 8y ago
I had zero trouble getting a SIM with China Mobile. I pre-paid $1/RMB per day plus a deposit in case I went over my daily usage. It took a bit of time that day because of language issues but I was fine.

“until you open a bank account and get a local phone number.” You won’t be able to get a SIM card either unless you are a Chinese citizen(or have a citizen get one for you)

rahimnathwani 8y ago

This is untrue. Foreigners can easily get a SIM card. Just walk into a China Unicom or China Mobile store, with your passport.

EZ-E 8y ago

This is not true, you can get a Chinese number and SIM card with a passport in any of the big telecom operators stores

yorwba 8y ago

All large mobile providers have offerings targeted specifically at foreigners (e.g. https://www.mychinaunicom.com/ https://www.mychinaunicom.com/) and getting a Chinese SIM is one of the first things to do for exchange students in China. Maybe those are all registered on a random citizen's ID, but given the scale and visibility of that business, it seems unlikely that all of that is happening in violation of the registration requirements.

arnvald 8y ago

I got one using foreign passport. However in the first shop I tried I was told I need Chinese ID. In the 2nd shop there were no problems

AznHisoka 8y ago
Yep, It appears that I'm not 100% accurate. Some China Mobile/Telecom chains, in general, will refuse to sell SIM cards to foreigners, even if you got a passport. China Unicom, however will sell them to you, if you got a passport. So the responses here are also not 100% accurate, if I'm being fair :)
- giardini 8y ago
  You were pretty accurate! Have a group of friends touring China right now. They tried for days to get a SIM card but finally gave up - nobody would sell one to them! The only place they did not try was a vendor at the airport where they arrived. They judged that vendor would be overpriced so waited until they got into the city.
  - AznHisoka 8y ago
    Yep. I feel the people who responded don't know the latest rules happening in China. Even a few months ago, it was pretty easy to get a SIM card in China. But they have tightened things up a bit.

jason_slack 8y ago

I had zero trouble getting a SIM with China Mobile. I pre-paid $1/RMB per day plus a deposit in case I went over my daily usage. It took a bit of time that day because of language issues but I was fine.