Phone & Internet in China: SIM Cards, Apps, and Connectivity

Three national carriers cover the whole country. All three have 5G in cities and 4G everywhere else, and all three offer international-student plans.

• China Mobile (中国移动 / China Mobile) — largest network, best coverage in rural areas, most branches. Default choice for students not in a major city.
• China Unicom (中国联通) — the strongest choice for international roaming and IDD if you plan to travel back home during breaks. Slightly better English support in tier-1 cities.
• China Telecom (中国电信) — cheapest data plans in some regions; coverage in the southwest is very strong.

Typical student monthly plans: - CNY 39–59/month for 20–50 GB of 5G data + a few hundred minutes. - CNY 79–119/month for unlimited-ish data plans.

Most universities organise a carrier stall on campus during registration week: buy your SIM there. The staff know exactly which documents international students need, and the plan is often subsidised. If you miss the window, walk into any carrier flagship store with your documents.

Do not buy a random SIM from a stall or convenience store. Only carrier stores can register a SIM to a foreign passport under real-name rules.

Every SIM card in China must be registered to a verified identity — this is national law under the Cybersecurity Law and the Counterterrorism Law. Selling or using an unregistered SIM is illegal.

Bring the originals to the carrier store: - Passport with valid visa or residence permit - A Chinese address (dorm is fine) - Cash or a Chinese card for the plan (some stores accept international cards for the first bill only)

The clerk will photograph your passport, take a live photo of you holding it, and enter your details into the government system. The SIM is activated on the spot — usually 10–15 minutes in and out.

Two consequences of real-name registration: - The number is yours personally. You cannot buy a SIM for someone else, and you cannot sell yours on. - The number will follow you for years as WeChat, Alipay, banks, and Taobao all key off it. Do not lose the physical SIM — recovery of a lost Chinese number from abroad is difficult. Set up eSIM and enable SIM PIN if your phone supports it.

Every Chinese university runs a campus Wi-Fi network covering classrooms, libraries, dorms and courtyards. Access is free but you must log in with your student ID on a captive portal on first connection each day, and again after a few hours of idle time.

Speeds vary widely: - Library and study buildings: typically 50–200 Mbps. - Dormitories: anywhere from 5 Mbps (older buildings) to 300 Mbps (new dorms with fibre). Peak evening hours drag speeds down.

If dorm Wi-Fi is slow, you can subscribe to wired broadband through the campus ISP (usually China Telecom or China Unicom) for around CNY 30–80/month. The international office can help you sign up. Alternatively, tether from your phone plan on unlimited-data days.

Practical tip: the campus captive portal often blocks the login pop-up on iPhones. If Wi-Fi looks connected but nothing loads, open Safari and go to any http:// (not https://) site — the login page will appear.

Install these before or immediately after arrival. Categories, not brands:

Payments & identity - WeChat (微信) — messaging + payments + mini-programs; you cannot function socially without it. - Alipay (支付宝) — payments, food delivery, taxi, government services in one app.

Getting around - Amap (高德地图 / Gaode Maps) or Baidu Maps (百度地图) — Google Maps does not work reliably in China. Amap has an English interface. Both include walking, driving, transit and bike-share directions. - Didi (滴滴出行) — the Uber of China. Book taxis and ride-hail from Alipay or WeChat mini-programs, or install the standalone app. Add your Chinese card at first use.

Food & shopping - Meituan (美团) — food delivery, restaurant reviews, cinema tickets, groceries. - Ele.me (饿了么) — Alipay's food delivery arm; competes with Meituan. - Taobao (淘宝) & Pinduoduo (拼多多) — everyday shopping, from bedding to textbooks. Prices are half of what you'd pay off-campus. - JD (京东) — for electronics; genuine goods, fast delivery.

Study & translation - Pleco — the best Chinese-English dictionary. Free tier is enough for most students. - Google Translate — download the offline Chinese pack before arrival. - HelloChinese or Du Chinese — beginner Mandarin practice.

University-specific - Your university's 官方 (official) WeChat mini-program — check schedules, top up the campus card, book library rooms.

Set language preference to English inside each app in Settings — most of them support it.

Be honest with yourself before you fly: a large number of Western services are inaccessible from mainland China without additional tooling. This is a well-known consequence of local network policy, and every incoming student must plan for it.

Services generally not reachable from the standard mainland network include: Google (Search, Gmail, Drive, Docs, Meet, Play Store), YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, X/Twitter, Wikipedia, Reddit, and many news sites.

Services that generally *do* work: Microsoft (Outlook, Office 365, Teams), Apple services (iCloud, App Store, iMessage, FaceTime), GitHub, LinkedIn, Zoom, Bing, and most banking/university websites.

Before you arrive: - Download essentials in advance: Google Translate offline pack, offline maps, PDF copies of key documents. - Migrate to services that work: move active email to Outlook, note-taking to OneNote or Apple Notes, cloud storage to OneDrive or iCloud. - Set up alternative contact channels with family — Skype, iMessage/FaceTime, or email work reliably. WeChat is the practical daily-contact tool once your parents install it. - Research your own connectivity options for your university and city, and understand the terms of service of anything you install. Rules and enforcement change; do your own current-date research rather than relying on any single guide.

Some universities provide educational-use international connectivity for research (CERNET) — ask the international office. This is the safest, above-board way to reach academic services abroad.

Plan for connectivity friction as part of the trade-off. Most students adapt in the first month.

A short list of things that trip up new students:

• Do not port a foreign number to a Chinese SIM. Buy a fresh Chinese SIM and keep your home number active as an eSIM in the background for two-factor SMS codes from banks back home.
• Turn on Personal Hotspot — dorm Wi-Fi drops at odd hours; a China Mobile 5G phone is a fine backup router.
• Watch out for SMS-based scams. Fake "logistics" and "police" messages are common; always call back the number listed on the official website, never the one in the SMS.
• Keep receipts of your monthly plan payments for the first year — occasionally CSC students are asked to prove Chinese residency for a visa renewal or bank action.
• Set up Find My Device / Find My iPhone before arrival. If your phone is lost or stolen, replacing WeChat + banking + campus card access from a fresh device is painful.

By the end of week two you should have a Chinese SIM, a working WeChat and Alipay linked to your bank, offline maps and translator on your home screen, and a realistic sense of which Western services you can and cannot reach. That is the practical baseline for daily life.