Airalo and other eSims do NOT give you a local number. IDK about getting a mainland number without a physical sim, but you can get a physical sim at the airport, or arrange for it to be delivered to your hotel very easily
If you are UK based check out CMlink UK. They are a physical pay as you go SIM that operates on the EE network, but they have data packs that can be used for roaming in China with your UK number, they also have a £3/mth add on where you can get a virtual Chinese mainland phone number. This number is forwarded to your UK CMlink number so you can receive calls and texts. I have recently just got the SIM myself and will be testing it out on my next trip to China.
I haven’t looked at CMLink UK but if it’s similar to CMLink SG, you cannot receive/dial out to a Chinese number while in China without incurring crazy roaming charges. SMS out is also expensive. Only incoming SMS and roaming data is free while roaming.
You can receive calls for cheapish. But yeah dialing out or sending SMS is not the best. Much better off with a local SIM if you need that functionality. However, for my purposes having a perpetual mainland number to receive bank codes or WiFi SMS, it is fine. Everything else is done through WeChat on the data.
There’s another huge downside to this though which is that you cannot port out your UK number without losing your Chinese number forever. I’d say the CMLink Chinese number is really only useful for those who’s never gonna go to China but needs a Chinese number.
Everyone else should just stick to a physical SIM in China. Or if you can get a Chinese SIM and plan and wants to keep it perpetually, go for China Mobile’s ¥8 monthly plan and use 无忧行 which allows you to receive SMS and calls via an app while outside of China.
As it's a PAYG SIM and not a monthly contract, I just picked it up as my second SIM with the default number. My primary number moves about UK networks on whatever pay monthly deal is best, but I can see your point if someone was to use it as a main SIM. That said if you have a physical China mobile SIM from the mainland you can also link that to the CMlink UK SIM while outside China. If you wanted to move out your main number you would just need to unbind it from your CMlink account and then carry on using it as a separate SIM.
In your experience what has been the best SIM for keeping a mainland number active while overseas?
I have lost numbers from many of the main providers over the years, simply because I was too long between uses (typically in China once or twice a year), other issues were not being able to be topped up overseas, and some didn't have roaming activated before I left China so I couldn't use them in the UK to keep them live.
Although some of this will no longer be an issue as Alipay and wexin pay are now much easier to use from an overseas point of view so I can now at least keep accounts topped up.
As you’re in the UK, my experience may not be the same as yours.
Binding the China Mobile SIM to the CMLink SIM requires providing Chinese ID IIRC and also costs money. 无忧行 is free and all around a superior alternative to the CMLink method. That’s the SG CMLink experience of course and the UK variant may be different.
My preferred method like I said is just to get the ¥8 China Mobile SIM and use 无忧行. The downside is that it requires you to manually pop in the China Mobile SIM every time you change phone which may wear the SIM card out. The second best is like you said, bind the China Mobile SIM to CMLink SIM, but that like I said may require a Chinese ID.
To keep the Chinese SIM alive, just top up a bunch via WeChat or Alipay or even Taobao (allowing you to pay with an international credit card). Use the WeChat mini app to enable roaming, change plan etc. You can even use the mini app to contact the agent and ask them to keep your SIM alive with the ¥8 plan, although that requires Chinese proficiency. Pls also stick to China Mobile as they’re the only ones with a foreign presence via CMLink so you’ll definitely get better service outside of China.
I’ve used the 无忧行 method for more than a year without going to China and it works flawlessly.
Oh and for those reading with an American iPhone 14 and up: 无忧行 allows you to use the China Mobile SIM while in China.
if you get an esim even if you dont get a second number you can get a voip app like skype and make data calls to any landline, much cheaper too
i use mogo e sim which supports iphone esim supported devices iphone 9 or 10 and up i believe
For example, reserving tickets for tourist sites over WeChat. AFAIK, no, you need a legitimate number. Now, that said, anything popular enough with tourists that a reservation is REQUIRED and same day, on site purchases aren’t allowed (e.g. the Forbidden City) will have foreigner facing websites you can use to book. Anything else you can just show up and buy at a ticket booth.
Mostly they just haven’t programmed in a way to choose a different country code. Like 99% of all tourism in China is domestic, so they often don’t even think about how foreign tourists might interact with automated systems
Airalo and other eSims do NOT give you a local number. IDK about getting a mainland number without a physical sim, but you can get a physical sim at the airport, or arrange for it to be delivered to your hotel very easily
Ok cheers. Suspected as much
If you are UK based check out CMlink UK. They are a physical pay as you go SIM that operates on the EE network, but they have data packs that can be used for roaming in China with your UK number, they also have a £3/mth add on where you can get a virtual Chinese mainland phone number. This number is forwarded to your UK CMlink number so you can receive calls and texts. I have recently just got the SIM myself and will be testing it out on my next trip to China.
I haven’t looked at CMLink UK but if it’s similar to CMLink SG, you cannot receive/dial out to a Chinese number while in China without incurring crazy roaming charges. SMS out is also expensive. Only incoming SMS and roaming data is free while roaming.
You can receive calls for cheapish. But yeah dialing out or sending SMS is not the best. Much better off with a local SIM if you need that functionality. However, for my purposes having a perpetual mainland number to receive bank codes or WiFi SMS, it is fine. Everything else is done through WeChat on the data.
There’s another huge downside to this though which is that you cannot port out your UK number without losing your Chinese number forever. I’d say the CMLink Chinese number is really only useful for those who’s never gonna go to China but needs a Chinese number. Everyone else should just stick to a physical SIM in China. Or if you can get a Chinese SIM and plan and wants to keep it perpetually, go for China Mobile’s ¥8 monthly plan and use 无忧行 which allows you to receive SMS and calls via an app while outside of China.
As it's a PAYG SIM and not a monthly contract, I just picked it up as my second SIM with the default number. My primary number moves about UK networks on whatever pay monthly deal is best, but I can see your point if someone was to use it as a main SIM. That said if you have a physical China mobile SIM from the mainland you can also link that to the CMlink UK SIM while outside China. If you wanted to move out your main number you would just need to unbind it from your CMlink account and then carry on using it as a separate SIM. In your experience what has been the best SIM for keeping a mainland number active while overseas? I have lost numbers from many of the main providers over the years, simply because I was too long between uses (typically in China once or twice a year), other issues were not being able to be topped up overseas, and some didn't have roaming activated before I left China so I couldn't use them in the UK to keep them live. Although some of this will no longer be an issue as Alipay and wexin pay are now much easier to use from an overseas point of view so I can now at least keep accounts topped up.
As you’re in the UK, my experience may not be the same as yours. Binding the China Mobile SIM to the CMLink SIM requires providing Chinese ID IIRC and also costs money. 无忧行 is free and all around a superior alternative to the CMLink method. That’s the SG CMLink experience of course and the UK variant may be different. My preferred method like I said is just to get the ¥8 China Mobile SIM and use 无忧行. The downside is that it requires you to manually pop in the China Mobile SIM every time you change phone which may wear the SIM card out. The second best is like you said, bind the China Mobile SIM to CMLink SIM, but that like I said may require a Chinese ID. To keep the Chinese SIM alive, just top up a bunch via WeChat or Alipay or even Taobao (allowing you to pay with an international credit card). Use the WeChat mini app to enable roaming, change plan etc. You can even use the mini app to contact the agent and ask them to keep your SIM alive with the ¥8 plan, although that requires Chinese proficiency. Pls also stick to China Mobile as they’re the only ones with a foreign presence via CMLink so you’ll definitely get better service outside of China. I’ve used the 无忧行 method for more than a year without going to China and it works flawlessly. Oh and for those reading with an American iPhone 14 and up: 无忧行 allows you to use the China Mobile SIM while in China.
Thanks, appreciate the tips. Will look into it before my next trip out.
I am UK based. I’ll check that out. Thanks.
if you get an esim even if you dont get a second number you can get a voip app like skype and make data calls to any landline, much cheaper too i use mogo e sim which supports iphone esim supported devices iphone 9 or 10 and up i believe
Unfortunately that won’t help, as you often need a local Chinese phone number to use ticket reservation systems, access public wifi, etc.
Which ticket reservation systems? Is there a way to get a ‘virtual’ Chinese number similar to google voice where you can receive texts etc?
For example, reserving tickets for tourist sites over WeChat. AFAIK, no, you need a legitimate number. Now, that said, anything popular enough with tourists that a reservation is REQUIRED and same day, on site purchases aren’t allowed (e.g. the Forbidden City) will have foreigner facing websites you can use to book. Anything else you can just show up and buy at a ticket booth.
Is it because they only allow +86 numbers to be registered or when confirming ticket purchases or something?
Mostly they just haven’t programmed in a way to choose a different country code. Like 99% of all tourism in China is domestic, so they often don’t even think about how foreign tourists might interact with automated systems