[sj23]

We are going on holiday to China for a few weeks and want to take our phones with us. Both are originally from NZ so no probs with being locked into a network. We have SmarTone prepay here in HK ... what's the best option in China ... keep using HK phone number, or buy new SIM cards in China??

Whats a reputable/cheap network and where would we buy the cards from??

Out of interest, if you buy a phone in HK is it locked to the network (eg SmarTone) ??

Cheers
Sarah

[Max]

Originally Posted by sj23

We are going on holiday to China for a few weeks and want to take our phones with us. Both are originally from NZ so no probs with being locked into a network. We have SmarTone prepay here in HK ... what's the best option in China ... keep using HK phone number, or buy new SIM cards in China??

Whats a reputable/cheap network and where would we buy the cards from??

Out of interest, if you buy a phone in HK is it locked to the network (eg SmarTone) ??

Cheers
Sarah

Best option? Use a local SIM card bought in China.

Reputable/Cheap network? The only two that i know of are China Mobile and China Unicom. China Mobile may be a better bet as their network coverage is near-universal across China. China Unicom may be more prevalent among urban areas.

Locked network among locally bought phones? No. Not a problem if you purchase your phone from an electronics products retailer. There may be a hitch if you buy one from cellphone service provider (eg. SmarTone), but not so prevalent nowadays. So you'll be OK.

hope that helped.

[humanbeing]

Originally Posted by sj23

Whats a reputable/cheap network and where would we buy the cards from??

Reputable Network-China Mobile/ China Mobile[ shen zhou xing] is the most convience SIM card in China
Charges in GD[Similar rates available in every Province -Buy it from where you stay most. Domestic Roaming Chargers cost an arm & a leg!!! ]

Y0.19 Non -Peak Y0.39/Peak SMS:0.15/intra 0.20/inter 1.0/international
Roam in Guangdong Province[other that the city you brought from]
0.49
Roam outside GD Province
Dial:0.8 for local call
Recive:0.8+0.07/6 sec[you pay the long distance cost]

Within GD
Y1/HK, Macao ,Taiwan
Y2[US/Canada/UK/France/Italy/Germany/NZ/S Korea/Japan/Australia/Singapore/Malaysia/Thailan/Indonesia/Philippines]
Y6 [others]
Where? Buy from China Mobile branches

[jimmymakss]

Originally Posted by sj23

We are going on holiday to China for a few weeks and want to take our phones with us. Both are originally from NZ so no probs with being locked into a network. We have SmarTone prepay here in HK ... what's the best option in China ... keep using HK phone number, or buy new SIM cards in China??

Whats a reputable/cheap network and where would we buy the cards from??

Buy it at 7-eleven convenience store.
just ask for china unicom (1 card,2 numbers)

Out of interest, if you buy a phone in HK is it locked to the network (eg SmarTone) ??



Cheers
Sarah

Recommendation:
First of all, i am a 100% honkie and i would say...buy a sim card which gives u 2 mobile phone numbers in 1 single sim card intergrated (1 from HK mobile number and the other number which is China mobie number), which allow you to roam to china while people in hk could still access you by simply call your HK mobile without making trunk calls.
and you could still make long distance call back to hk or make any local china phone calls.

Where to buy?
Buy it at 7-eleven convenience store.
just ask for china unicom (1 card,2 numbers)


sim locked?
not 100%, it depends on some of the operator, e.g. smartone 3G phone with attractive handset price would tie u up a 18 months or even longer and also the handset would be sim locked. Check the terms and conditions with the operator prior make any purchase