China eSIM: Beijing & Shanghai

The evening before a long flight to Beijing or Shanghai is when your phone should be ready. Installing an eSIM needs an internet connection, so do it at home over Wi-Fi and switch the line on after you land. Nothing is lost by installing early: a plan's days start on its first connection in China, not at purchase.

China eSIM is a second line that sits beside your own SIM. Your usual SIM and number stay on the phone, while mobile data runs on the eSIM; calls and texts to your number follow your carrier's roaming terms. No plan comes with a Chinese phone number, so a service that insists on a local number will need another route.

Three kinds of plan for mainland China: • Data plans: a set allowance for a week or a month. • Unlimited: data for 3 to 30 days that never stops; after a daily high-speed amount, the speed drops for the rest of that day. • Day passes: choose anywhere from 1 to 30 days; each day brings its own amount, and once it is used you stay online at a lower speed until the next day.

Hong Kong and Macao have plans of their own, and one plan covers mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao together for a trip that moves between them. Going on to Japan or South Korea? A single plan covers China, Japan and South Korea. Neither combined plan has an unlimited option.

Where a plan's internet exit is in Hong Kong or Singapore, the plan screen shows it, and every plan lists the networks it uses. You get 4G across the country, and 5G on the plans and in the places that offer it.

Buying takes a few taps: sign in with Apple or with a code sent to your email, pay by Apple Pay or card, and your eSIM appears in the app soon after payment. Install it with one tap on iPhone, by scanning a QR code, or by entering the details yourself; it takes a couple of minutes.

While you travel, the app shows your remaining data, warns you when it runs low, and lets you top up an eSIM that still has time left. An eSIM whose time has run out cannot be topped up, so pick a new plan instead. Several eSIMs can sit side by side in one account, handy for a family trip.

Trip called off? An eSIM that was never installed and never used is refunded in full, the money back to you, within 15 days of purchase, with no reason needed.

Works on carrier-unlocked, eSIM-capable iPhone XS or newer running iOS 15 or later, and on cellular iPads with eSIM.

Questions before or during the trip: reach us in the app, message us on WhatsApp, or write to support@chinaesim.app.

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