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Ask Slashdot: Advice For Using a Cell Phone In China?
First time accepted submitter Oyjord writes "I am going to China in March, and I was curious what kind of cell phone hardware and plans American travelers use while there. I honestly don't like cell phones (and I currently use the Drug Dealer Throwaway Special Du Jour) but I thought I'd look into one with a good data plan, so I could perhaps take pics and upload them on the spot, and perhaps use the phone's internal GPS as opposed to taking my Garmin along, etc." (Note: it would be great if you include in your answers some idea about their currency — if you're in China right now, say, or if you were there more than a year ago.)
How long are you staying? Where in China will you be? Differences matter.
It's the same like everywhere in Asia. You walk to mall, nearest street store or market and buy a sim card. Usually they also offer cheap unlimited plans for internet. If you need more time, you just buy refill card. If you need a phone, those can be bought from malls and markets really cheaply too.
I thought I heard somewhere that the Chinese have been using exploits in foreign cell phones that install espionage applications (wire tapping) on cell phones when those phones are connected to Chinese towers. Does anyone know anything about this?
Don't text dirty jokes in China or send any "Weinergate" type of photos. They tend to frown on that. RANG RANG on the WANG WANG! Hey, the question asked for advice on "using" a cell phone in China, not buying one.
In case you don't end up with a decent data plan, free open wifi is available in branches of the Chinese fast food chain Dico's (http://www.dicos.com.cn/) - there are over 1000 of them across China. Also, think about what service you're planning to upload photos to and check it's not listed here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_websites_blocked_in_the_People's_Republic_of_China
So it sounds like you're looking to buy a smartphone.
In that case, arguably one of the best smartphones on the market, and also one of the cheapest without a contract, is the Xiaomi phone, released by a Chinese startup. It's only sold in China, but it is pretty much the geekiest Android phone around. Given that it's hard to get outside of China, I wouldn't be surprised if you could re-sell it and recoup most or all of its cost when you get back to America.
http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/27/xiaomi-phone-review/
Buy a 4-band GSM phone. That kind of phone has the most flexibility and can be used in 219 countries. References:
GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications)
GSM World
The GSM system uses different 4 bands. A phone that can use any of them is the most flexible.
When you get where you're going, go to a marketplace and buy a SIM card. That gives you a local number. If you meet someone you want to communicate with later, you will have a local number to give him or her. If you plan to communicate with the person after you leave, don't forget to exchange email addresses, because you will use a different SIM card in a different city, usually, and have a different number.
SIM, Subscriber Identity Module
DO NOT TAKE YOUR OWN AMERICAN CELL PHONE. I've had 3 colleagues have theirs either confiscated or taken to be "searched" (If it was being "searched" they got it back on their way out of the country, if it was confiscated it was gone for good.) Cellphones are dirt cheap there and so are sims with unlimited data plans and a crap ton of minutes. For 30 bucks you can usually have a decent flip phone and a month of service. Service for me was 7$ a month after that. Be careful what you browse on the internet and what you say on the phone.
To be really honest with you, it's kind of a crapshoot no matter what you choose. There are three "choices" as far as carriers here: China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom. China Mobile will be a bit more expensive for things like 3G, and supposedly isn't as fast as China Unicom. China Telecom is as cheap as they come, but doesn't seem to have much in the way of extras as far as services are concerned. My suggestion is to go with China Unicom, however, if you want to be uploading pics on the spot, you better have a VPN ready, or be prepared to use a Chinese website to upload the pics to since Picasa and other foreign picture hosting services are generally blocked here. As for phones, I personally use a Huawei U8150 (which is known in the US as the T-Mobile Comet), since it is about the cheapest smartphone you can get right now (I got mine for about 700 yuan, and it came with 2 batteries). It's got Android 2.2, bluetooth and wifi, but the camera is about as crappy as they come. Other than that, it's a pretty decent phone. I will tell you that GPS doesn't really do you much good in China though, since everything is changing so constantly here that many places appear on GPS where they are no longer present in the real world. You might consider getting the cheapest possible basic phone (I found a wonderful nokia with a built-in flashlight for 189 yuan on the Chinese version of Newegg) and just get a 3g USB dongle for whatever computer I assume you will take with you. Good luck.
There are two major operators that support using your own phone on their network: China Unicom and China Mobile. China Mobile operates a GSM network that covers the entire country, but their 3G network is TD-SCDMA, so no American phones will operate on 3G on China Mobile. However, China Unicom operates a 3G UMTS network, and all T-Mobile USA phones will work on it, and many AT&T phones will too.
You'll want to bring with you an unlocked T-Mobile USA phone for use in China. While there are many on AT&T that do also technically support China Unicom's infrastructure, it is hit-or-miss to get them unlocked. Talking to AT&T reps to get unlock codes is like pulling teeth sometimes... Purchase a good smartphone from T-Mobile USA off contract and call them up and request the unlock code. Tell them you purchased the phone for its full price at a store to use for international travel and go from there.
Personally, I'd recommend the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S II or the HTC Amaze 4G. Both of them support UMTS 850/AWS/1900/2100. China Unicom on the mainland uses UMTS 2100 last I checked, but they may have launched service on UMTS 850, since China Unicom in Hong Kong uses UMTS 850/2100. If that's a bit too high end for you, then the T-Mobile Motorola DEFY, T-Mobile Motorola CLIQ 2, or the T-Mobile MyTouch by LG all support UMTS 850/2100.
Unless you are there for months just get a cheap disposible prepaid one there. Multinationals have been known to bin company cell phones that have been taken to China out of paranoia that they have been altered in some way.
I took my own smartphone - an XDA IIs - and was just very careful with my usage; I was predominantly reliant on Wi-Fi, which, I was pleasantly surprised to find, was easily available where I was visiting.
My only quandry was whether I was required to declare the phone coming into the custom, on the form which asks about radios and cryptography. I decided not to declare it, on the grounds that, if they had wanted to include cell phones, they would have said so, since the average traveller is not going to decide that the phone fell within the description. A risk, of course, but one I felt comfortable taking.
Note: it would be great if you include in your answers some idea about their currency â" if you're in China right now, say, or if you were there more than a year ago.
I can do this.
I was in China more than a year ago, seven years ago to be exact. Their currency was the Chinese Yuan.
You're welcome.
China uses the same tech as Verizon, CDMA. That being said, taking a VZ phone will put a MAJOR dent in your wallet for data. Last I checked, Verizon was charging $20.00 per MEGABYTE for overseas data and $65/mo global voice package. Yes, you read that right. Pretty much all the electronics are dirt cheap over there. I'd recommend buying a throwaway phone when you get there. Since you don't have a "permanent" number now, getting an in country phone number doesn't seem like it'd be an issue.
According to this, it's in your best interest not to use your GPS while there...
http://www.telecomasia.net/content/foreigners-using-gps-face-arrest-china-0
Really, just take any quad band GSM phone and buy a SIM card, and you should be set. If you need 3G speeds you'll probably need to check the specs of the phone and get one on the right 3G bands (US ones won't work but there are plenty of online sources for cheap Chinese phones). If you can get by in Chinese well enough to go shopping, and don't need the phone immediately on arrival, just buy one yourself once you get there. Same goes for the SIM card. I would recommend China Mobile as a carrier. They seem to have the best coverage and they're easy to recharge. China Unicom can get you better rates as of last time I was there, but they kinda suck in other ways.
If you do want to buy your SIM before you go, I highly recommend this site: http://www.china-mobile-phones.com/ Please note I have no affiliation with them, but I have used them extensively in the past. You'll pay a good bit more than buying once you get there, but unlike the other online places to order Chinese phones/SIM cards, they don't charge you outrageous fees for airtime and make you go through them to purchase more air time at 10x markup. You simply get a normal prepaid China Mobile (or China Unicom) SIM card you can recharge yourself any way you like. They also offer online recharge for almost any China Mobile or China Unicom SIM, whether it was purchased through them or not, so you can recharge airtime for other people too. This comes in really handy when you're outside the country and the phone you need to call is "guanji".
Finally, if you want easy call-out to call back home, http://www.didww.com/ (also no affiliation) offers Chinese DIDs (VOIP phone numbers) which you can connect to whatever SIP address you want. Otherwise, outgoing international calls can be expensive and you may (not sure if this still applies) have to register with the police to get international dialing enabled for your SIM.
Dunno if it applies to mobiles w/ GPS's, but I have heard that handheld GPS's are disabled (if legal at all) when in China...
Due to a combination of paranoia and market-protectionism, uncensored maps are considered some sort of state secret and not allowed to be exported. Instead, if you buy any GPS sold outside the PRC with maps of that country, you're stuck with censored maps that have offsets and distortions introduced -- so while your unit might give you the right coordinates, you'll be looking at the wrong spot on the map.
Supposedly there are "fixed" maps floating around for some GPS brands, but they're probably quite illegal to bring into China.
I've lived in China for 10 years now...
As everyone already told you, get a cheap mobile, plugin sim card. If you would like to make international calls you'll have to apply for the right to do so, a service provider can help you with that, but it's easier to check into a hotel and use their phones or you could scout for a telephone kiosk, they can usually make international calls.
Speak only in Navaho. It worked great in WWII.
It's really annoying, but Google maps doesn't work properly in China. It's offset, and the satellite maps have a different offset amount and direction to the street maps. Photos taken with my iPhone opened in Geosetter make it very clear. Google for this, and you will find that this a problem that goes beyond Google maps and even affects other GPS products. Only those from China work. Consider this when taking such a product with you, or whether you can read Chinese and buy a local one or use a local website from your phone.
Incidentally, I noticed a couldn't even find addresses in Shanghai yesterday using maps.google.co.uk (it appears to be working again today). My usual hotel was booked and our company travel agent's website wasn't doing a very good job of offering alternatives either. Annoying, and so typical of every experience I've had in China over the years: nothing's reliable in the way we used to in the West.
I just got back from a business trip to China. I carry my personal android CDMA phone in airplane mode while there and connect it to wifi hotspots in the hotel and such to check mail and what have you. I then carry an unlocked blackberry perl I bummed off of a friend in the US. The nice thing is that the phone is all in english. As soon as I checked into my hotel, I handed the concierge 100RMB and asked him to get me a sim card for the town I would be in. My traveling guide then helped me activate the sim card in the phone.
:)
Some things to remember:
- Make sure the GSM phone operates on China frequencies (GSM in china is different than GSM frequencies in US)
- Calling plans in China are typically free inward calls so set up your friends on google voice / skype so they can call you
- The sim card I got was local only so it only worked in the town I was in, I do not know about plans that take you elsewhere
- When you activate you will get instructions to a Chinese voip tunnel which you can use to call US for cheap. This is a much cheaper way than dialing international from your new SIM.
Also to note in my research China Telcom which operates the national CDMA network requires a local address to sign up so I did not try to get my CDMA phone registered there so if trying this route good luck.
- best of luck and good travels
Also good to know all the bartenders know american for BEER but unfortunately you should probly learn the mandrin for toilet
Foreign nationals just have to show their passport and hotel address to get a sim card.
Infact, you can get one right at the airport.
As long as you are legally in the country, no issues, however, the OP is going to China
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If you have an unlocked GSM, quad band phone, you can take that with you and get someone in China buy a 50 Yuan ($10) SIM card for you from China Mobile you are good to go. If you are with carriers such as T-mobile or AT&T here in the US (others are not GSM) you can get your carrier to unlock your phone so that you can use other SIM cards in it. T-mobile helps you unlock your phone when you simply call them and tell them your purpose, even when you are within the contract period. I don't know about AT&T. I guess they do it as well. 50Yuan card will last you for a very long time calling within China. If you want to call back the US, if you buy your SIM card from China mobile, you can use a prefix code to get very economical calls to the US. The prefix code is 12593. That is, if you want to call a US number, dial 12593-001-(Area code)(Tel#). Without this number prefix, your 50Yuan card will not last more than 10minutes, if you call US.
I was there about 10 months ago for adoption and never used my phone once. For calling back to the U.S. we just used Skype (via VPN). We stayed in 3 cities (all major cities) and each hotel we stayed in had 'net access in the rooms, either included as part of our package or for a fairly cheap rate. All photos were taken with our digital camera and just uploaded to our laptop at the end of each day. I didn't have any need for GPS data with the photos since I knew the towns we were in and places we were visiting thanks to an itinerary. You might not have that luxury.
I did bring my AT&T iPhone with me but left it in airplane mode the entire time. I really only used it as a wake-up alarm. I think I locked it in the room safe whenever we went out. I left it in my carry-on when flying and never had any problems with security.
Get yourself a Blackberry and an unlimited international data plan. When I travel there the BB (albeit connected to a BES) can access any website, Facebook works, Twitter works since all traffic is routed through the BES. You need to check with your phone provider if that is true for BIS too. Beats fiddling with VPN and stuff by length. If access to all this doesn't matter: a cheap China Mobile prepaid SIM and a Xiaomi Android --- or a Huawei Ideos (a bit slow, so that's if calls is your main app).
It is abnormal. Heck, in most European countries you can buy prepaid cards and don't have to show anything. Not like requiring a passport will protect you from a dedicated bomber.
That's technically impossible unless the Chinese government is blanketing large areas with GPS jammers.
Also it's impossible to detect the use of GPS. It's just a passive receiver like an FM radio.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
It's somewhat easy enough to grab a sim at a China Mobile store (there are heaps in the major and minor cities). The 'Yuan' (Chinese currency on the mainland) is also referred to as 'RMB', 'Renminbi' and 'quai' (depending on where you go). The lesser (sub?) denomination is called a 'jiao' or 'mao' (the latter is slang). 1 yuan = 10 jiao. There's also a third tier 'fen' where 1 jiao = 10 fen, but you usually won't get given fen (due to rounding) only banks typically give out the lowest denomination for some reason. Yuan notes come in 100, 50, 20, 10, 5 and 1 (the 1 yuan also as a coin). Jiao comes in 5 and 1 (both notes and coin form). Fen comes in coin and note form (5 fen, 1 fen).
You have some options here:
;)
1. Get an unlocked Quad Band GSM phone. If you are on AT&T, well you're phone is probably locked. But if you had an unlocked phone, then iPhones and Blackberries definitely work everywhere in China. The vast majority of China is covered with GSM and UMTS so any phone that works on T-mobile will work in China. I have no idea why AT&T decided to use a frequency that no one else uses... The good thing about this is that the Phone is in English, and is easy to use if you are not fluent in Chinese. Once there, like so many other people have said, just by a sim card. If you have an unlocked iPhone 4 like I do, you'll also need a Sim Cutter tool (available on ebay and the likes for around 20 dollars).
2. Buy a phone there. Some smart phones carry multiple languages in the system by default and all you have to do is get someone to help you change it to English.
You want to note that in China, they don't have "nation-wide" calling. Calling a local number and a long-distance number makes a huge difference on the price. However, a text message to any cell phone in China is always the same price. And texting is very cheap compared to US standards, so most people will send lots of text messages.
Also, I wanted to say that like any international traveling, you should consider using VOIP where possible. You certainly don't want to make an international call on your cell in China, it's absurdly expensive. Skype is accessible within China. The premier Instant Messaging Network in China is QQ, there is an English edition that you can get as well so chat with Family at home with. But I would recommend Skype over that since many people already have Skype in the US.
I also want to dispel some of the rumors that people have and the fear mongering. Every time I've flown in, I've never seen anyone get their cell phones confiscated or searched. The only time this will happen is if the Chinese government has a record of you do something "disruptive of social harmony". (This means don't bad mouth the government and you'll be OK. Also "When in Rome, do as the Romans do" is quite applicable here. However, it's not like there is a listen device in every room either. You should feel fairly save from unwanted invasions of privacy. As they say, the dog will bite you if you kick it.) The person saying that he had 3 colleagues who had their phones searched or confiscated probably works for a human rights organization, works for something else that China doesn't like, or did something suspicious during their entry. Most people will go through customs without any issues. (Oh there is additional scrutiny if you going to an area like Tibet or where there is currently social unrest. But for most of the big tourist spots (I'm assuming you're going for leisure since you are taking pictures and stuff) should be OK).
Also, the rootkit issue. In order to install a rootkit, the attacker must either have physical access to your phone or get you visit a malicious link. Buying a new phone wouldn't mean there is a rootkit installed on the phone either, it's just to practical to install a rootkit on every phone. Of course if you some how managed to get the Chinese secret service to tail you, well then all bets are off
Not true. A passive receiver still has an oscillator in it that can be detected, though it's only effective at fairly close range. Some Googling has revealed that, in the particular case of GPS receivers, a pseudorandom number generator that runs at 1.023 MHz is used and a regular AM radio might be able to detect that signal (1023 on your AM dial!). I can't personally vouch for that, but I'm intrigued enough by the prospect that I'm going to experiment with it.
China cell phone basics:
I recently accepted a long-term (2-year) assignment in Shanghai. As an american the basic approach to cell phone marketing is very different and could use some clarification. First of all all phones & cell plans are separate. You buy a an "unlocked" phone, then you buy a sim card. Put the card in the phone & it works. 90% of sim cards are pre-paid. Typically you put down $15 dollars (100 rmb) and you are good for a week to a month, depending on usage. The other 10% are monthly subscription plans that require a bank account in a chinese bank.
I live in Shanghai and there are 3 major carriers:
China Mobile: The biggest company in the world, overall very good coverage
China Unicom: Second biggest presence in Shanghai
China Telecom: I don't know very much about them
If you want 3G you'll have to choose your phone/provider carefully. China Mobile uses TD-SCDMA, this is a technology developed in china and pretty much used only in china. You'll have to buy a Chinese phone to use it. China Unicom uses W-CDMA, which is widely available in the US. China telecom uses CDMA2000. My company provides China Mobile sim-cards and my iphone co-workers only get access to the edge network.
I recommend buying an "unlocked" phone before you go to china and a sim card when you arrive. The primary reason is that unless you speak chinese you will have difficulty using the phone & any pre-installed apps. You can change the language of some (android) phones, but this doesn't cause all the app's to magically speak chinese....which can be very frustrating. I would go with an W-CDMA phone & china unicom so that you can use it when you return to the states. Both AT&T and T-Mobile off pre-paid sim-card plans for really low prices. I don't think the average american understands how much of their monthly fee goes toward the phone and how little goes to the service plan. I also recommend a smart phone. The ability to run google translate is a lifesaver.
There is a lot of hype/talk on the net about phone prices. Don't believe it. Shanghai is a large, mature, market. the vendors sell things for a fair price. If you are getting a better price its because you aren't aware of everything you are (are not) buying. That being said taxes, import duties, etc... cause prices to be about 10-15% higher than the exact same product in the us. To shop prices try www.amazon.cn, use google-chrome for realtime translation and you can see what someone in china pays for the same product. Note chinese prices are the price, including all taxes and fee's.
So what did I do:
(I had a coworker that convinced me buying a phone in china was the right move....he of course spoke chinese)
--for myself I purchased a GT-I9008L, galaxy S smart phone. I wanted data, I wanted the latest tech, my company provides me with a ChinaMobile sim card. So I went to www.amazon.cn and shopped for 3G phones. It doesn't run google market, it does run the amazon market, I'm adapting. The only complaint is the map software from the amazon market doesn't always sync to the GPS, and I have a bunch of apps I cannot use 'cause they are in chinese. As a side project I'm working on porting cyanogenmod to the phone. Unfortunately samsung locked the boot-loader. I have managed to root the phone but I have also near-bricked it 3 times trying to get the clockwork mod installed. (near-brick means I found rom's on the net and did a full factory-install of the phone 3 times to recover it)
--for my wife: I purchased an "HTC desire", followed the FAQ on cyanogenmod to get an all-english platform, bought a sim-card with this plan and life is good.
--what I would do if I where still in the states: I would buy the google nexus S and purchase a china unicom sim card when I arrived.
I am living in China, I have 2 phones, 1 for voice and 1 for data. The voice one is a cheap LG throw-away I got for less than 200 kuai. The data is an N900 with a 3G SIM - the SIM is completely anonymous and cost me around 60 kuai a month for a prepaid 11-month plan - I think you can buy 3 months for less than 80 kuai a month. Those plans include 1Gb a month of data, which is all I need since I have broadband at home. Skype over 3G is possible, even video Skype with the N900. I wouldn't recommend an N900 now, but there you go.
I've bought an Airport Express several years ago for this very reason. The desks in hotels aren't always that big, and so I needed it if I wanted to sit on the bed or use two laptops. And since work got me an iPhone, I've needed it for that too. I can then use Skype on my phone from the bed. Those Airport Expresses are pretty good form factor too.
I still have my old Samsung flip phone that weighs 83g. I just buy foreign SIM cards for that if I'm going to be somewhere for any length of time. I'm old enough that I remember how to look things up before I go out, and read a map. Barring that, there's always the Lonely Planet for find my way when I'm on foot.
(Note that there is no implication that they were using the GPS, or even performing espionage of any sort. The particular case I heard of in my fiancee's home area, the guy jailed was simply using it for navigation on a self-organised walking holiday. But in that region, possession is a crime with mandatory 5 years hard labour, and that's what he got sentenced to. Though he was released to the US jail system after only a couple of years, and didn't do much hard labour, I'm told. Very lenient.)
Be very, very sure that the areas you are going to are safe to carry a GPS in. If you're not certain, the safest thing to do is not take it. At all. Map and compass can be dangerous enough but if they are available locally, then you're reasonably safe to get them locally and use them.
Photos on a cell phone ? Meh. Get a decent camera, unless this is going to be a trip you'll be repeating every few months. Your memories will thank you.
Uploading your photos ... well if you're anywhere where there is adequate wireless to actually use a phone, there is going to be faster land-line available through Internet cafes or hotels. Get out there, mix with the people, keep your hand on your wallet (which you mostly emptied into the safe in the hotel, anyway) and experience the place.
Storage ? The last holiday with the wife, we clocked up around 10GB of photos (which we still haven't pruned the dross from), around 1Gb/day for 200-300 photos/day, or an average of a photo every couple of minutes. Look at the size and weight of 8 or 16GB SD cards ... maybe consider a netbook or tablet for transferring them to a USB hard drive as a backup.
If you're going to go to places and do things that you think might get you searched by the authorities, then you've got bigger things to worry about than your photos. Like, lead poisoning for having a GPS. Think for a second about how many airports have "no photography" signs in place ... and then think about how they might take to meeting a dangerous foreigner (that's a tautology of course, everywhere) with a camera and a GPS. (Think also about how often you've seen your local police enforcing the "no photography" zones in your home area.)
Well, my 0.02â worth. Your mileage may vary.
Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
You'll be right at home in China. That's pretty much the easiest way to go and it's even cheaper than at home.
I went there two years ago in September. I took 2 phones there, a little Motorola that works in all the USA and Europe (but as it turns out, not China) an unlocked Iphone 2g. (I left my then-new Iphone 3g at home - not unlocked, higher theft value). I kept it on my person at all times, and Customs didn't ask about it when I entered the country; it was in my pocket.
It worked fine; I bought a 300 MB data-enabled SIM which lasted me 10 days (remember, Edge speeds). As a phone it worked fine, and when I got text messages in Chinese they were either spam, or sent to my Chinese friends from their family. I didn't try to get texts in English but I heard they work too.
With the data plan, I could pull up Google maps, check email, etc. Google maps helps a bit for finding your way, if you know about where you are and where you want to go, but without a GPS it's only partly useful.
I had to find a bilingual person who knew what I was talking about to make sure to get the right SIM card (with data) - mine was China Telecom. And I had to set my DNS and Edge settings correctly, I had done my homework and knew the correct settings (but the cheerful girl at the corner mobile phone stand knew the settings too, and it was the one thing in English on the SIM packaging).
My last day there, I tried to exhaust the data plan by emailing pictures from my high-speed train ride, but failed. I used 272 MB total in 10 days - mostly email and checking mainstream US sites for news, some map lookup, etc.
Things may have changed since then, especially around GPS and the Great Firewall of China (thus access to some US sites). If you're paranoid, set up a new Gmail account and use only it on the Iphone - assume it's compromised from day one, and don't do anything on that account you wouldn't want a lumbering but occasionally paranoid foreign communist government to know about. Commercial or personal stuff is fine, just stay away from politics.
s/guanji/tingji/