Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
If you are traveling to a country with the same network system as your Chinese carrier,
then things are relatively easy. If you're going to an area covered by a different network,
however, your phone company will probably provide you with an international SIM card to
help facilitate the conversion. This card won't change your phone number. Whatever carrier
you're with and wherever you're going, they should be able to provide you with interna-
tional roaming; your handset, however, might not be so compliant.
If you have an iPhone5, you're in luck. This phone has an automatic function that allows
it to switch between W-CDMA and CDMA2000 networks (although not between CDMA
and GSM). So even if you're normally with China Telecom (CDMA2000) in Beijing, this
will continue to work if you head to London or Singapore, which both use W-CDMA.
Please note, you still need to go into a phone store to activate international roaming before
you set off.
If you have another type of phone and you're going into an area where the network is
different to that required by your handset, connection might be impaired. If you find that
this is the case, the best solution may be to temporarily switch your card into a locally
friendly handset.
To check your balance while out of China, you can either dial the phone company's hot-
line number or log in to your online account via the company's website. To add money
while abroad, you may need to call on a friend on the mainland to help you. Alternatively,
you can use online Chinese banking or Zhifubao.
You can leave the international roaming function activated as long as you like, no matter
how many times you come and go from China. If your deposit was designated as a prepay,
then your local calls will continue to eat into this amount when you're back in China, so
you may need to top up your phone every time you go abroad, but you won't need to go into
a branch to do this. When you finally decide to deactivate international roaming, go back
to the branch with your passport and deposit invoice to cancel the function. It will take one
month before you can return (again with passport) to collect the deposit.
Using Your Own Handset in China, or Your China Handset Abroad
So you have a much-loved or expensive phone from home and you want to use it in China.
Chances are you can, but just don't assume that to be so. First, before you leave home, make
sure the handset isn't locked to any provider from your home country.
Now the phone type. The main task is to select the right carrier in China for your
phone—China Mobile if your handset requires GSM (but not if it's an iPhone), China
Unicom if it's W-CDMS (UMTS), or China Telecom if it's CDMA2000.
