I have a China Unicom phone. How do I buy more credit?

[anonymoose]

I bought a phone here in Shanghai about three months ago, and because I don't use it all that much, I haven't had to buy more credit for it until now.

But as this is the first time, I'm not sure exactly what the procedure is. Do I have to go to China Unicom to buy more credit, or can I get it cheaper from elsewhere?

Also, is it just a card that I have to scratch to get a code which I can dial into my phone and get the credit, or what?

Thanks.

[Rincewind]

For my old China Unicom phone, I had to go the the Bank of China to top it up. A simple enough procedure, just tell them the phone number and how much to credit. Pay the money, get a reciept and go.

[toygirl]

I have chinamobile, but i think the companies work the same. i just go to any newspaper stand or to a phone store that sells my service and ask them for a recharge card. they usually come in quantites of 100 kuai or 50 kuai. you don't get a cheaper or better deal on them, because all they are doing is charging your sim card the exact money that you pay for the recharge card. how much it costs for you to make phone calls depends on the simcard that you bought, that decides your "phone plan"

the phone stores have the cards that you stratch the stripe off the back, but the newspapers stands have a paper like thing that you pull apart and the code is inside. i've also found they sell recharge cards on the blcu campus, so you can pretty much find them everywhere.

...but... as i said, i have chinamobile, but i think its the same for unicom, you just need to make sure you get a unicom card before you stratch the stripe, i doubt they do refunds.

[randall_flagg]

And should you find the instructions on the card confusing, the person selling you the card will probably help you recharge your phone.

[flameproof]

the person selling you the card will probably help you recharge your phone.

I ALWAYS let them do it, because......

1. They know how to do it, I don't

2. They do it much faster then me

3. The succeed on the first try

4. You know the card ain't fake

5. In the meantime I can chat with the cute phone shop assistant

Ok, I made up #5, but the rest is true!

[anonymoose]

Thanks everyone. I just found a China Unicom shop around here, so I went there and let them do it for me.

[flameproof]

China Unicom shop around here

I think you can go to ANY shop that sells phones. ALL have those cards.

I am not sure if Unicom value is cheaper. But China Mobile cards are always sold for what's printed on them. Only once I had it that a rmb100 card had a special promotion and the stored value was 130 (or so)

Right now I look at the Xiaolingtong cards. They are cheaper, they start with the area code (so the number looks like a fixed line number), they work only withing that area code, but can only be used with a special xiaolingtong phone. At least, my normal GSM phone doesn't recognize them.

[imron]

Right now I look at the Xiaolingtong cards. They are cheaper,

And you get what you pay for. Xiaolingtong reception is even worse than China Unicom

[flameproof]

Xiaolingtong reception is even worse than China Unicom

well, it's certainly not for the mobile, and even less so for travelers. However, having a phone number that "looks like" a fixed line may have some advantages.

Just flipping through wiki.... XLT is basically similar to DECT home phones:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_Handy-phone_System