cell phone use in china

[Guest sanfranciscojoe]

i am in shanghai and can't use my cell phone. my friend back in usa says he buys a chip to put in his phone and it works. he then buys a card with a certain amount of time on it. does anyone know how to do this ? where do I go?

[TimD]

If your cell is from the US I doubt it will work. I have a Chinese cell. I went to one of the many China Telecom shops around town and signed up for the service. In China you buy your phone and a card with a little chip on it. You place this chip into your phone to activate the service. It's much simpler than in the states.

 

I have to admit, I don't know much about cell technology so my terms might be a little off.

 

-Tim

[Eric&Yuhui]

i am in shanghai and can't use my cell phone.  my friend back in usa says he buys a chip to put in his phone and it works.  he then buys a card with a certain amount of time on it.  does anyone know how to do this ?  where do I go?

You are outta luck. You need a GSM cell phone ( 1800 MHz frequency ).

Then stick any SIM card in it.

Et voila...

[SBS]

You need a GSM cell phone ( 1800 MHz frequency ).

My Husband sent me this Nokia 3650 ( 1800 MHz Frequency ) But it stil didn't work with the Chinese SIM card. American cell phone company locked it. Only my friend return from Germany can use her cell phone with China SIM.

[Bobby]

Buy a phone there It can't be as expensive

Yeah, that's basically the advice I got the last time I went to China. I met some people from New Zealand who travel to HK and SZ frequently.. when they get to HK, they just pick up a pre-paid phone and use that while they are there.