SIM cards and connectivity

Local Chinese SIM

Three carriers: China Mobile (largest, broadest rural coverage), China Unicom (the most foreign-network roaming reciprocals, often picked by expats), China Telecom (smaller).

To buy: passport required, Chinese registration. Available at airports and most large telecom shops. Process takes 30–60 minutes with paperwork.

Plans: ¥80–¥200 per month for sufficient data. Pay-as-you-go starter plans are also possible.

The catch: Chinese SIMs route through the Great Firewall. Google, Facebook etc are blocked unless you also use a VPN.

Roaming

Roaming on your home SIM in China typically does NOT route through the GFW — your home network's backhaul is overseas. Google etc work normally. Suits short trips (under 2 weeks) on carriers with reasonable international rates: T-Mobile US, Three UK, Project Fi, EU SIM with roam-like-home into China (rare but possible).

eSIM

Modern phones can hold both a Chinese local eSIM and a foreign eSIM. Some travellers do this — local SIM for cheap data, foreign roaming for the GFW-bypass on Google etc. Setup is fiddly but works.

Travel SIMs (sold outside China)

Specialist travel SIMs (Lyca China, Three's add-ons, dedicated 'China unblocked' SIMs) often route data via Hong Kong or Singapore — meaning Google, Facebook etc work without a VPN. Read the fine print before buying. Speeds may be lower than local SIMs.

Speeds

5G is widely deployed in tier-1 and tier-2 cities — typical download 100–500 Mbps. 4G is universal in cities. Rural Tibet, remote Xinjiang and high mountain valleys have patchy coverage; some passes and remote camps have nothing.

Hong Kong and Macau

Different. Local HK/Macau SIMs use the regular international internet — no GFW. Many international travellers buy a HK SIM at the airport (HK$100 for a tourist SIM with data) for unblocked use, then switch to a mainland SIM after crossing.