Introduction of Cell Phone and Internet Service in China (Shanghai) I. Cell phone plans:
There are two main companies in China—China Mobile (中国移动通信) and China Unicom (中国联通) — that offer mobile phone services. To help you recognize the two services, here are their logos:
1.1 Getting a cell phone
1.1.1 Using the same cell phone in the US: If you do not have a cell phone yet or if you are thinking of buying a new one in the US, you have to make sure that the cell phone you get is: A) Unlocked and B) One that is a Triband or Quadband. Almost all cell phone companies in US lock their cell phones for their services only. So if you change your cell phone provider, you have buy a new phone from the new provider. 1.1. 2 Getting a cell phone in Shanghai: You could get a cell phone anywhere in Shanghai-- almost all electronics stores sell them and you find such stores scattered all over the city. You can find a variety of trendy and fancy cell phones in Shanghai. A cell phone can cost from a basic phone of 500 Chinese Yuan to a fancy fashion phone of 3000 Yuan loaded with all camera and video features. At the time of your purchase you will get a randomly given phone number or you can spend extra money for a number you choose.
1.2 Choosing a cell phone service:
China Mobile (中国移动通信) and China Unicom (中国联通) offer a number of package services that cater to a variety of needs. Below are among the most popular ones most recommended to expatriates with short-term (less than two year) stays in Shanghai. All of them include a SIM card: 1. 2. 3. Shenzhouxing Quanqiutong (GoTone in English) M-Zone
All the above three cards are pre-paid services offered by China Mobile. 1.2.1 How pre-paid charging cards work:
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Pre-paid charging card service plan allow you to pay first and then make your calls. Since they are prepaid, no personal documents are needed at the time of purchasing the service. They are easy to use, with bilingual (Chinese/English) prompts. When the credit is low, a voice prompt will tell you to recharge your minutes. Pre-paid charging (Chongzhika 充值卡) in values of 50 ¥ and 100 ¥ are available in post offices, convenience stores and news stands scattered all around the city. You can recharge your card on your cell-phone, others’ cell phones or from a land telephone by following the instructions at the back of the charging card. Don’t worry if you don’t know how to do it. The vendors at these places are often willing to do the recharge for you. You should receive an SMS text message within one minute confirming the amount added. 1.2. 2 What service suits me? You’ll find people in Shanghai use text-messages a lot. This is largely due to the fact that text message is often cheaper than making a call. Here is to recommend two plans: a) a Shenzhouxing package plan which offers very cheap calling plans, and b) a M-Zone plan that offers very cheap text message plans To give you an actual feel of the cost, here is the exchange rate between the Chinese yuan (￥) and the US dollar: 1 $ = 8 ￥ (approx.) Plan A: Shenzhouxing Dazhongka changting ban 神州行大众卡畅听版 Shenzhouxing offers a number of plans, each with a different name. To avoid confusion, make sure you present the entire name of this plan “神州行大众卡畅听版” to the vendor when you make your purchase. This Shenzhouxing package plan offers the cheapest call rates: Monthly Fee 16 ￥ Local call rates Incoming calls: FREE Outgoing calls: 0.13￥/min *Roaming fee 0.6 ￥/min (within China) If you are out of your service area Text message rates a) Incoming messages: FREE b) Outgoing messages to numbers beginning with 135-139: 0.10/message c) Outgoing messages to the other numbers: 0.15/message
* This roaming fee refers to the fee charged for roaming calls within China. So far, this plan has not offered international roaming yet. Where to get the plan: You can get this Shenzhouxing plan, “神州行大众卡畅听版,” at any China Mobile store in Shanghai. You find China Mobile’s logo at all China Mobile stores, which look like this:
At the store, just present this:
神州行卡大众畅听版
and tell them you want this Shenzhouxing plan.
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Note: To make long distance calls within China, you may want to use IP cards. See 17951 IP long distance package plan below.
Plan B: M-Zone package plan If you prefer to communicate with your friends mostly in text messages, you may find M-Zone offers an ideal solution. Here are the M-Zone plans: Monthly Fee ￥ automatically charged for the chosen plan 10 ￥ text plan 20 ￥ text plan 30 ￥ text plan 40 ￥ text plan 10 ￥ call plan 20 ￥ call plan Free text messages Free calling minutes How to apply (Send text message to “1861”)
160 360 650 950 60 220
20 20
“Mzone10D” “Mzone20D” “Mzone30D” “Mzone40D” “Mzone10L” “Mzone10L”
You will get a confirmation text message on you r cell phone after your text message is sent to join the chosen plan. Note: 1) Text messages beyond the free range will be charged. The rates are the same with those with the Shenzhouxing plan introduced above: a) Incoming messages: FREE b) Outgoing messages to cellphone numbers beginning with 135-139: 0.10/message c) Outgoing messages to the other numbers: 0.15/message 2) Call rates for any M-Zone plans: In Shanghai area — non-roaming calls Rates To cell phones: 0.18 ￥/min To land telephones: 0.32 ￥/min To cell phones: 0.18 ￥/min + 0.07 ￥/6 seconds To land telephones: 0.32 ￥/min + 0.07 ￥/6 seconds From cell phones: 0.18 ￥/min From land telephones: 0.32 ￥/min
Local calls Long distance calls Incoming calls
Out of Shanghai area — roaming calls Rates 0.80 ￥/min
Incoming and outgoing calls from the roaming area (If you are in Beijing, then Beijing is the roaming area) Long distance calls
0.80 ￥/min + 0.07 ￥/6 seconds
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Which is better: As you can see above, the Shenzhouxing plan is a lot cheaper to those who make and/or receive a lot of calls while the M-Zone plan looks good to those who rely a lot on text-messages for communication. I would recommend that you get the Shenzhouxing plan first. It is both cheaper and easier to handle. After you are in Shanghai for a while and have a better idea of what would be the best way to communicate with your friends in Shanghai, you can always subscribe/change to an M-Zone plan later.
II. Making International Calls
2.1 IP cards
If you want to call overseas, an IP prepaid calling card is the cheapest and most convenient solution. They can be used on registered fixed telephones or cell phones. Prepaid calling cards can be bought in convenient stores which can be found at almost every corner of the street or at post offices across the country. Such IP cards are sold at great discounts: A 100￥face value card should cost around 30-50￥ and a 50￥ card around 15-25￥depending how good your negotiation skill is. Rates: There are a variety of IP cards which charge different rates. However, the difference is not significant. Take a 17968 Wangtong IP International card (17968 网通 IP 国际卡), a popular IP card, for example. An international call made to the US or Canada with a Wangtong IP International card costs 2.4 ￥/min. ($0.30 US) Making a long distance call with the IP card: To make a call, simply follow the English instructions on the back of the card. The steps will look like this: Dial 17968 1. Mandarin Card number.# PIN.# IDD# 2. English
2.2 17951 IP plan to go with your cell-phone plan:
Another ideal IP plan to use to make international calls is the 17951 IP International Package plan（17951 国际长 途优惠包）. This package plan can go with your cell-phone plan. Rates: Monthly fee charged to your plan 1.00 ￥ Rates per call (Total rate = international call rate + local call rate) + Local call rate (The exact amount of International call rate the local call rate depends on your cell (to US and Canada): phone plan) 0.70￥/min
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If you use the Shenzhouxing long distance calling plan introduced above, the actual rate would look like this:
Shenzhouxing plan 神州行大众卡畅听版
Monthly Fee: 16.00 ￥ Monthly Fee: 16.00 ￥ + 1.00 ￥ Local call rates: Incoming calls: FREE Outgoing calls: 0.13 ￥/min Int’l call rates: Incoming: 0.70￥/min; Outgoing: 0.70￥/min + 0.13 ￥/min = 0.83 ￥/min
How to apply: 1. Compose a text message “GJIP” or “DX” and send to 1861 2. Visit a China Mobile store and apply there. How to make international calls on cell phone with 17951 IP plan: Dial 17951 + country code + area code + phone number For example, to call Marshall University in US: 17951
001
304-696-6265
2. 3 E-talk free of charge:
The internet offers the cheapest way to call your family. You can use PC to PC calling, which is FREE. To make a PC to PC call, both you and the receiver on the other end need a computer installed with the downloaded software from the provider, a microphone, speaker, video/web camera (optional), and, of course, access to the internet. You can choose any of the following three services to make the free calls PC to PC: Skype: www.skype.com/download/ MSN Messenger: http://get.live.com/messenger/overview Yahoo Messenger: http://messenger.yahoo.com/ Google Talk: http://www.google.com/talk/ Any of these three services enables you to have video and voice conversations with your family in the US.
III. 17951 IP in China long distance package plan
The 17951 IP long distance package plan (IP 国内长途优惠包) can go with your Shenzhouxing plan and allows you to make long distance calls to places outside Shanghai at a rate as low as 0.20 ¥/min. How to make a domestic long distance call with this plan: Dial 17951 area code telephone #
For instance, to call your friend in Beijing whose number is 65478952, dial: Rates: Monthly fee 1￥ How to apply: Rates per long distance call 0.20 ¥/min
17951-010-65478952
1. Compose a text message “IPYH” and send to 1861 2. Visit a China Mobile store and apply there.
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IV. Internet Access
4.1 High-Speed Access
ADSL is available from China Telecom and generally works pretty well. You have to jump through a lot of hoops to set it up yourself, so it's probably better to get your landlord involved. ADSL generally costs around 100 RMB per month, but you can pay for a block of 12 months for 1000 RMB. (If you live on campus, almost all of your host schools provide free broad band Internet access in your apartment)
4.2 Dial-Up Access
Dial-up internet access is available through Uninet or www.163.com. You can buy internet access cards pretty cheaply. Public numbers sometimes work fine (like 96563 - username, dial, and password). ISP costs are around 4 RMB per hour for dial-up. Bear in mind the phone rate is an additional 4 RMB an hour just for making any kind of call. Dial-up access is dying a much-deserved death now that ADSL is cheap. This is mostly because people can fly to Hong Kong and back before a page finishes loading, but also because it can tie up your phone line something rotten.
4.3 Wi-fi
There are four wireless internet service providers in Shanghai: China Telecom's Tianyitong, China Unicom's CDMA 1X, China Netcom's Mobile Office, and China Mobile's E-Traveler. Pre-paid wireless Internet cards for the various providers can be purchased at the business centers of most four- to five-star hotels. Below is list of venues in the major commercial areas of Shanghai, where wireless internet access was still free as of April, 2005. You can call them to find out whether they are still free now. Free wireless internet and wi-fi hotspots in Shanghai's Pudong area Super Brand Mall One of Shanghai's biggest malls, overlooking the Huangpu River. 168 West Lujiazui Road, Pudong, Shanghai Free wireless internet and wi-fi hotspots in Shanghai's Xintiandi and Huaihai Road Chatea Popular chain of Hong Kong style Cantonese restaurants with outlets around town. Lane 123 Xingye Road, Xintiandi, Shanghai KABB American-style bistro. Building 5, Lane 181, Taicang Road, Xintiandi, Shanghai LUNA Café Bar & Restaurant Pleasant spacious restaurant well-placed for people watching. Building 16, Lane 181, Taicang Road, Xintiandi, Shanghai Sasha's Housed in a historical villa with pleasant garden seating. 11 Dongping Road (by Hengshan Road), Shanghai
Tel: 6887 7888
Tel: 6385 1311
Tel: 3307 0798
Tel: 6336 1717
Tel: 6474 6166
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Zapata's Mexican Cantina Next door to Sasha's and shares its garden seating area. 5 Hengshan Road, Shanghai O'Malley's Irish Pub Outdoor seating available and real fireplace keeps your fingers warm in winter. 42 Taojiang Road (by Hengshan Road), Shanghai Ruzzi Restaurants Spacious restaurants with reasonable prices and outlets in three commercial districts. 1. Level B1, Hong Kong New World Tower, 300 Middle Huaihai Road, Shanghai 2. 528 Fuzhou Road (near Hubei Road), Shanghai 3. Grand Gateway, 5F Food Court, 1 Hongqiao Road (by Huashan Road), Xujiahui, Shanghai Alexander Gym Gym with health club and swimming pool. 3F, Building 6-7, 123 Xinye Road, Xintiandi, Shanghai
Tel: 6474 6166
Tel: 6474 4533
Tel: 6386 5005 Tel: 6360 3031 Tel: 6448 2595
Tel: 5358 1188
Free wireless internet and wi-fi hotspots in Shanghai's People's Square/ Nanjing Road Element Fresh Healthy garbs, smoothies, and free internet. Unit 112, Shanghai Centre, 1376 Nanjing West Road, Shanghai Valley Gourmet Small cosy lunch venue next to Shimen No. 1 Road metro stop 819 Nanjing West Road, Shanghai Big Bamboo Airy American-style restaurant-pub with sports on TV and free wifi. 132 Nanyang Road (near Xikang Road), Shanghai
Tel: 6279 8682
Tel: 5213 0571
Tel: 6256 2265
Blue frog Popular restaurant-bar on the Tongren Road stretch of bars with branches on Maoming Road and Pudong. 86 Tongren Road (near Yan'An Road), Shanghai Tel: 6247 0320 Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf American-style coffee spot. Unit 02-03, Block 10, Xintiandi Vienna Cafe European cafe, quiet, charming, excellent cakes. 25 Shaoxing Road, House 2 (near Shanxi Nan Road)
Tel: 6387 4248
Tel: 6445 2131
4.4 Internet Cafes:
Internet bars are everywhere in Shanghai, with official estimates at about 1,600. In reality, however, this number seems rather off the mark. Internet bars are relatively cheap if you're desperate or just a wandering traveler in need of an internet fix. They charge about 4-8 ¥ per hour of internet use.
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