You will have a much easier time booking things, buying things, confirming things etc. with a local phone number. Also, data. It’s real cheap here, and also the only thing worse than having that little E on the top corner of your phone is when simply nothing is there at all. Scary.
So previously this was an easy 1 minute process that any number of the 10 different mobile phone shops nearby could help you sort out. In the name of the terror, that’s no longer so easy – but we are working on better ways. We do offer you one with a phone, but unfortunately that has to stay with said phone, for multiple reasons. If we give you that phone, why are we not simply pre-organizing this whole page rather than talking about it? That’s complicated.
How else can you get one?
- Order one from an online provider in advance (they can have it delivered to you in advance of your trip or to your hotel
- Go to one of the mobile provider service halls when you arrive in China (slow, a bit annoying, but of course works)
- Buy from a nearby shop once you arrive. Again, not guaranteed, but we are working on it.