Buy/Rent a cell phone in Beijing?

[Strawberries513]

I am going to be spending a month or two in Beijing very soon. While I am there, I definitly need a cellphone. I might just pay to have my cellphone unlocked and buy a China SIM card, but before I pay for that, I have some questions:

On renting a phone:

1. How much would it cost to rent a phone in Beijing for 5 weeks?

2. Do you recommend renting a phone?

On buying a phone:

All I would need on a phone is calling and text messaging in Chinese, no internet/MP3/bluetooth/camera etc.

1. How much would a phone like that cost in Beijing? (including the SIM card, minutes, etc)

2. What types of phones do you guys recommend? (I would really like a slider phone)

Or should I just pay to have my own phone unlocked?

[ClaudiaSun]

I suggest you buy one

I don't know if we have phone renting service here

cause I have never seen that before......

a SIM card 30yuan might be ok

a cellphone may cost 600-1000 yuan if you don't need it to be very good......

[Strawberries513]

Thanks ClaudiaSun! Could you possibly recommend a specific model? (so I can look it up ahead of time)

[Shadowdh]

Not so sure about the rental side of things but I would imagine it would work out more expensive in the long run as they would probably have a higher tariff maybe(?)...

As for buying well if you would like a nice phone then I would suggest 1500 or so is not out of the question (more if you want the latest hot thing...) and as for which one... well I would like to get an XDA that O2 here in the UK offers as its a Windows run pda (and the one I want is also a sat nav which is cool) but I have a motorola L7 that I adapted to use Chinese language and its a pretty good little number... I got it free from O2 with a contract (that runs out just before I go to China) and its unlocked (I tried my wifes vodafone sim in it and it worked fine)... unlocking isnt much of an issue these days though... I found it really hard to find a phone with out a camera at the least but they are out there... if you are really happy with you phone I would just get it unlocked and get them to put a Chinese language pack on at the same time... (but its always nice buying a new toy though isnt it? )

[Ian_Lee]

If you are a T-Mobile customer for over 90 days, you can request unlocking without paying any fee:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,235602,00.html

[adrianlondon]

Check your phone will work in China. Some Americans I know have mobiles which won't work anywhere else.

If it will work, get it unlocked.

Buy a SIM card as soon as you arrive. I did it from one of the little newsagent kiosks on the street - they're everywhere. You can do it in Beijing Airport too although I don't know what sort of plan they put you on. SIM cards are not free (unlike the UK) but they're not too expensive especially if you have a number full of 4's and/or ending in 74 as mine did. If you want 138 888 8888 then it'll cost you. You'll pay around 40y

Then you charge it up - I don't use the phone much for calls, just loads of texts. I was on "China Mobile M-zone" and a 20y/month package which gave me free texts and some free calls. Didn't understand all the details but think I only paid 300y for the 5 months I was in China. I went back to Beijing a few weeks ago (the card was still OK despite not being used for 4 months), put 50y on it (which suddenly went down to around 15y - dunno why) and that lasted me the week, Made a couple of calls and sent hundreds of texts.

[cdn_in_bj]

What model of phone are you currently using? If it's a tri-band phone (GSM 850/1800/1900), then it will probably work in Beijing so it wouldn't hurt to bring it over. Do note that most other places in China are on GSM 900 only, so if you venture outside of Beijing or major cities you may be without service. If you find that the coverage is inadequate, you can always get a new phone here.

Also, it will probably be cheaper to get the phone unlocked in Beijing. And at the same time you can have them install a Chinese language pack (if one is available for your phone).

If you do decide to buy a phone here, a bare-bones Motorola or Nokia as you've described can be had for 500-700 RMB. However, you won't be able to get a slider for that cheap.

You can get a pre-paid SIM card for fairly cheap (50-100 RMB including credit), calls are around 0.25 RMB/minute. 0.15 RMB for domestic SMS, 1 RMB for international SMS.

[tallynole]

the downside to bringing your phone is that it might lack support for chinese characters.

You can usually get fairly cheap Nokias and Sony-Ericsson for under 100 USD that are unlocked and some of them even quad-band that can be used worldwide.

[ClaudiaSun]

http://detail.zol.com.cn/price_search.php?subcatid=57

you can have a look:)

when are u coming?

手机设计类型：

直板 straight handpiece

滑板 slider

[twoming]

Ditto some of the comments:

I took an unlocked RAZR to China last month and upon arrival bought a SIM at PEK. My Chinese friend said I was nuts, way too expensive at 240 Y and I didn't negotiate the price down, stupid laowai! Also, China Mobile texts you when your minutes are getting low but unless you have the the support for Chinese characters in your phone (I didn't) you'll just see a bunch of blanks when the message arrives, then all of a sudden you are SOL for minutes. Be sure you are getting the SIM package you want...INTL included or not, for example. Otherwise it was great to have it available. Hope this helps a little.

[roddy]

If you are only here for five weeks, just get a China Mobile Shenzhouxing pay as you go SIM card, with a cheap mobile phone if you need it. Get whoever you buy it from to set up any useful packages - you can get, for example, extremely cheap incoming calls (which are usually paid for) for a small monthly fee now but I think you need to activate them. International calls are best done via landline with an IP card or on Skype. Shenzhouxing will let you make international calls if necessary though.

[cdn_in_bj]

I second the suggestion of signing up for a package (ie-unlimited or almost unlimited incoming calls). However, keep in mind that you need to sign up before the start of the month, so depending on when you arrive you may not be able to make full use of the package.

Regarding international calls, I found out recently that Shenzhouxing is under 2Y/min now (used to be around 7Y/min).

I still think you should bring your phone if it is tri- or quad-band. It won't take up a lot of luggage space and unless it is some obscure model, you should be able to get a Chinese language pack installed once you get here. On the other hand, once you get here and see all the cool phones that are available, you may be tempted to "upgrade".

[ringsixty]

I bought one on my last business trip. Cheap Motorola and SIM card with time.

It was about 700rmb. Nothing special or fancy about the phone. My thinking is: if lost or stolen...no problem...just get another one. Note : You may want to get a sim that can call outside of China.