Roaming SIMs for China

(work in progress)

One of the big issues with buying a SIM in China is the far-ranging censorship. Many websites that are considered part of everyday life in most other countries, as well as chat apps and social media that China does not control, are blocked. While VPNs are the most commonly recommended solution, the Chinese government has recently been more effectively able to block them, resulting in unreliable performance for many publicly available VPNs. However, because roaming traffic is also securely tunneled to the home country carrier and through its gateway, it functions the like a VPN, but with greater reliability. Thus, if you need to ensure reliable access to services otherwise blocked in China, or if you want more anonymity than with a Chinese SIM (many roaming SIMs often do not require registration), a dedicated roaming SIM is a solution that can be considered. This page will be ordered into four parts: One each for providers from the Chinese territories of Hong Kong and Macau, one for providers from other countries in Asia, and one from "global" providers that specialize in SIMs that work worldwide.

Note that these all have to be purchased from outside China before arrival.

Hong Kong
Due to the frequency of travelers crossing between Hong Kong and mainland China, many providers in Hong Kong now offer SIMs with cheap roaming in China. In addition, all of China's major MNOs operate in Hong Kong, with China Mobile as an MNO in Hong Kong as well and China Unicom (using the brand CUniq) and China Telecom (using the brand CTExcel) as MVNOs. The focus of this section will be on SIMs that can be purchased or topped up online. The Chinese MNOs that operate in Hong Kong will be listed first, then local providers with roaming, then MVNOs. Note that China Mobile HK and China Unicom HK both require you to use a local credit card for top-ups now, so if you are not purchasing a pre-loaded SIM, you will need to prepare a Hong Kong payment method, buy Hong Kong top-up vouchers online through a third party, or pick one of the other operators.

Also, do note that at this point, a certain surveillance can't be ruled out from SIMs from Hong Kong, at least on the Hong Kong SIMs of the major mainland MNOs.

China Mobile Hong Kong
CMHK is one of the major MNOs in Hong Kong, with a wide variety of SIMs available for both local and travel use. Their roaming SIMs are now easily purchased on eBay or Amazon, among other online marketplaces, and if you are transiting Hong Kong's airport, there is a China Mobile kiosk in the arrivals area. They also are one of many providers in Hong Kong that offer a bonus scheme for top-ups over a certain amount.

Regulations
No new SIMs with mainland number are sold anymore, due in part to the mainland registration regulations.

Additionally, CMHK SIM cards state on the packaging, that they should be activated in Hong Kong. This is a suggestion, not mandatory; there is a bonus of unlimited data in HK for exactly 24 hours upon activation (you will get SMS confirmation of expiry time), but if you don't plan on going to HK first, it can be activated from within mainland China with no issue by dialing *#130# on the phone, after signal is received.

Restrictions
Do note, that if your phone does not support China Mobile's TDD-LTE or TD-SCDMA technology, your 4G access will be limited to larger cities where they have FDD-LTE band 3 and 8 and you won't have 3G to fall back on, only EDGE.

Voice and data SIM cards
4G/3G China-HK Prepaid SIM Card costs HK$ 120 and comes with HK$ 114 of credit valid for 180 days. Basic data rate is HK$ 1.5 per MB capped at HK$ 48 daily. A HK$ 6 adminstration fee per month applies.

If you can't obtain this SIM, China roaming data packages can also be activated on these two SIM cards: 4G/3G Individual Traveler Prepaid SIM Card sold at HK$ 68 with HK$ 18 credit and 4G/3G Super Talk Prepaid SIM Card sold at HK$ 48 with HK$ 46 credit. However, the daily rate is higher for these two SIMs (HK$ 68), and voice and text are charged at higher rates. A HK$ 2 administration fee will be deducted monthly.

To the three SIM cards above these roaming packages for 30 days can be added:
 * 200 MB: HK$ 38 - activation: *103*200*04#
 * 2 GB: HK$ 98 - activation: *103*200*05#

Additionally, all 4G/3G SIMs now have an FUP on the daily unlimited rate. If you use more than 1 GB per day, China Mobile reserves the right to throttle your connection to not less than 128 kbps.
 * 4 GB: HK$ 168 - activation: *103*200*06#

If you go over your data pack, you will be notified by SMS and your internet access will be shut off. You must unsubscribe from the pack, and you can choose to resubscribe to a pack or pay the daily rate going forward (an advantage over China Unicom's HK offering).

In addition to the above, three SIMs with fixed validity and a fixed amount of minutes, SMS, and data valid across mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau are now available.
 * HK$ 98: 3 days, 50 minutes, 50 SMS, 1GB
 * HK$ 168: 10 days, 100 minutes, 100 SMS, 2GB
 * HK$198: 30 days, 100 minutes, 100 SMS, 4GB

Data-only SIM card
For data only they offer a 4G/3G China 10-day Data Prepaid SIM Card to be used in both HK and mainland China. This SIM is HK$ 108 for 3 GB of HK and mainland data. It can be used at a daily rate of HK$ 48 in HK or China (with 1 GB FUP). Take care; the initial validity period is only for 10 days, so it must be topped up before expiration for additional use. This SIM is resold and delivered globally by http://www.prepaid.com.hk. There is one add-on package offered valid for another 10 days: You can buy new package before the old one is used up. Data from old package rolls forward in this case. If you run out of package data, you're switched to daily rate. You may want to buy multiple SIMs in advance instead, as the add-on rate provides much less data for the same money.
 * 1 GB: HK$ 100 - activation: *103*200*07#

China Mobile has also now released a long-validity SIM, with 8GB data valid for 365 days for HK$ 388. This SIM can not be topped up; if you run out of data before the 365 days are up you must buy another SIM.

Topping up Edit
These SIM cards participate in CMHK's top-up bonus scheme. The following bonuses apply for online top-ups, which can now only be done online with a Visa or MasterCard issued from Hong Kong: Every top-up of HKD 50 or more extends validity for 180 days since day of top-up. Any smaller recharge only for 30 days unless previous validity was longer in which case previous validity is kept. Similar, but smaller bonuses are given for top-ups in store in Hong Kong.
 * HK$ 30-49 for a 5% bonus
 * HK$ 50-199 for a 15% bonus
 * HK$ 200-299 for a 20% + HK$ 10 bonus
 * >HK$ 300 for a 30% + HK$ 10 bonus

Online account management Edit
They have an online account management. There are two ways to log into account management: by SMS verification or by password. Former one works only if you're in mainland China or Hong Kong. So if you want to keep your SIM alive outside China it's recommended to create a password by clicking "prepaid SIM registration" on account management. You can consult your balance there and refill but you can't buy packages. It's also available as an app for Android and for iOS, called MyLink.

More info Edit

 * Query balance, both money and megabytes: dial *#130#.
 * APN: cmhk (for HK roaming SIM)
 * China Mobile Customer Service Hotline: 400-120-4000, no menus, direct line to a live person but domestic call rate will be charged
 * Website in English for China Mobile Hong Kong: http://www.hk.chinamobile.com/en/

China Unicom HK (CUniq)
China Unicom operates a MVNO in Hong Kong, and they sell roaming SIMs that work in both Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland. Their new online shop is now available in English with sites for the UK, US, Germany, Russia, etc, which means that these SIMs can be easily purchased in many countries worldwide. Delivery time will vary and a shipping fee is added to some countries. In addition to their own online shop, their SIMs can be found on Amazon and eBay.

'''Note that you can now only use Hong Kong-based payment methods (Visa, UnionPay; 7-11 stores sell top-up cards) to add credit to the account. '''If you don't have access to these, you'll need to make sure the SIM comes with enough pre-loaded credit for your needs, secure an alternative payment method, or if available, you can buy a CUniq plan in your home country that comes with data in China (prices vary).

Hong Kong offers
For voice and data in Hong Kong and mainland China they offer the Cross Border King 4G HongKong SIM for HK$ 99, with the same credit valid for 90 days from the date of activation. If you can not find the Cross Border King SIM in stock, the 4G Local Voice and Data Prepaid SIM is now functionally identical, but at a lower upfront price (HK$ 48 for HK$ 46 credit). Both are valid in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Japan. Standard rate is HK$ 0.80 per MB (= HK$ 800 per GB!) in Hong Kong and the mainland (capped at HK$ 28 daily in Hong Kong only), and a high HK$ 0.02 per kb (= HK$ 20 per MB) capped at HK$ 68 per day for Macau, Taiwan, and Japan. These packages are available for Hong Kong and mainland China: These cards both charge a monthly administration fee of HK$ 6, applied at activation and on each 1st day of the calendar month again. Overage in mainland China is HK$ 0.8 per MB. They will be cancelled on the 8th or 31st day at midnight and don't auto-renew.
 * 500 MB for 7 days: HK$ 48 - activation: *118*600#
 * 500 MB for 30 days: HK$ 68 - activation: **118*601#
 * 1 GB for for 30 days: HK$ 88 - activation: **118*504#
 * 2 GB for 30 days: HK$ 148 - activation: **118*602#

When you have exhausted the data in the package, you will get a text message informing you. You can then start a new package if you have sufficient credit in your account.

Finally, they have different data-only SIM cards for China, now all with 4G: There is no longer a hard cap on data-only SIMs; once high-speed data has been used up, data speeds will simply be throttled to not less than 128kbps. The 8-day SIM and the 30-day SIM can be topped up, the 15 day SIM can not. The following top-ups are offered: They also offer SIM cards that are only valid for Guangdong province and Hong Kong (see website).
 * Mainland & Hong Kong 8 Days Data SIM: HK$ 150 with 2 GB for 8 days
 * Greater China 15 Days Data SIM: HK$ 178 with 2 GB for 15 days
 * Greater China 30 Days Data SIM: HK$ 240 with 3 GB for 30 days
 * 8-day SIM: HK$ 100: 8 days, 2 GB
 * 30-day SIM: HK$ 180: 30 days, 3 GB

More info

 * APN: 3gnet
 * Customer Service (in English available): [tel:13068400177 13068400177] for CU Hong Kong SIMs
 * Website in English for CU Hong Kong SIMs: https://www.cuniq.com

China Telecom Hong Kong (CTExcel)
China Telecom is a new entrant to the Hong Kong MVNO market, and will only be briefly mentioned due to its relative lack of offerings suitable for roaming users. They are less suitable, due to lack of availability (you have to find one of the few China Telecom stores in HK that stock these to get one), lack of English language support, and only having one prepaid SIM with roaming in mainland China: Overage in the mainland is at a relatively low HK$ 0.11 per MB (= HK$ 110 per GB). Data roaming in the mainland is on China Unicom 4G, so it will work with most phones from overseas. Voice roaming is over China Telecom's own CDMA network, so if your device does not support it then you will not be able to make or receive voice calls in mainland China. Have a VoIP or other chat app ready.
 * HK Voice and Data Prepaid SIM (Trial Version): Free, comes with 1 GB HK data, 50 MB mainland data, 100 minutes and 10 SMS good in Hong Kong only for 60 days

Note: Only the free Trial Version SIM has roaming in mainland China, all paid starter packs have '''no roaming. '''

Top-up can be done online by Visa, MasterCard, UnionPay, or PayPal. The following bonus scheme applies: All top-ups extend validity by 180 days.
 * HK$ 50-HK$ 99- HK$ 5 bonus
 * HK$ 100-HK$ 199- HK$ 15 bonus
 * HK$ 200-HK$ 299- HK$ 40 bonus
 * HK$ 300 or more- HK$ 90 bonus

More info:
APN: CTExcel

website in Chinese only: http://www.ctexcel.com.hk

Three
Three is a major provider in Hong Kong, and has a few SIMs available for use in China. Their “face value” is at the same time purchase price and preloaded credit. An “administration fee” of HK$ 2.50 per month is imposed on all cards. They are one of the providers in the list to have an eSIM offer available.

Roaming Data SIM (for Mainland China and Macau)
Three's roaming SIM for mainland China and Macau is given out in two sizes: The first SIM is valid for 90 days activated, the second for a year. Validity can be extended by top-ups. The following offers are valid on China Unicom network in China and Three network in Macau. Use the listed USSD codes to subscribe and unsubscribe after the initial (non-renew) allowance: In addition to the listed prices, Three gives out bonus roaming data for online top-ups: Roaming on this physical SIM is on China Unicom up to 4G.
 * for HK$ 98: with a 2 GB data pass for 30 days
 * for HK$ 488: with a 8 GB data pass for year

Data eSIM
Three also offers a roaming eSIM for capable phones (iPhone XS/XR, Pixel 3/3a). The initial eSIM can be purchased online here and costs HK$ 138 for a flexible 10 days in 90 days from activation. Each day of roaming is valid not only in China, but also in Macau, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Australia, USA (including Guam), Canada, France, UK, Ireland, Italy, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Israel, and Kuwait. When the 10 days are used up, the following options are available: Roaming on the eSIM is on China Mobile; any phone that supports the eSIM will support TDD-LTE so network compatibility is not an issue.
 * 1 day: HK$ 15
 * 10 days: HK$ 138

There is an FUP of 500 MB daily (from midnight to midnight).

For both SIM and eSIM, top-ups can be done online with a MasterCard or Visa from any country by logging in to your online account. The username is your phone number, the password is the 6 digit PIN sent to you in the activation SMS.

More info
(work in progress, to be continued)
 * APN: mobile.lte.three.com.hk
 * website: http://www.three.com.hk
 * customer services: (+852) 1033