China mainland eSIM

Mobile Coverage in China: Megacities, High-Speed Rail and the Remote West

Planning mobile data for mainland China means answering two separate questions. Will I have signal? And what will I be able to reach once I'm connected?

The first is the easy one. China has one of the largest mobile networks in the world. Government figures show it had about 4.8 million 5G base stations by the end of 2025. Three state-owned operators run the networks: China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom. Unicom and Telecom share much of their 5G infrastructure. Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and other cities have dense coverage, as do the main high-speed rail corridors. Coverage gets thinner in remote western regions, high mountains and deserts, but towns along main tourist routes are generally connected. The China plans on this page list all three as local networks.

The second question depends on how your data is routed. Inside mainland China, internet access is filtered. Many services common elsewhere, including Google, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, are generally not reachable through Chinese SIM cards or hotel Wi-Fi. A roaming eSIM works differently: your phone connects to a Chinese network, but your data can be routed through a gateway outside mainland China. Our Hong Kong IP plans route your data outside mainland China, so Google, WhatsApp, Instagram and other apps work normally without a VPN. Our local China IP plans do not, so some foreign apps may be blocked. Check the label on each plan before you buy. Hotel Wi-Fi stays filtered. It's also wise to set up Alipay or WeChat before you leave.

How much data should you plan for? Ericsson estimates average smartphone use in North East Asia at about 23 GB a month, and 21 GB worldwide. That is roughly 5 to 6 GB a week if you use your phone as you do at home. Visitors to China often lean on mobile data more than usual for maps, translation and mobile payments, so leave yourself some headroom.

Setup:

1. Install the eSIM at home over Wi-Fi, before you arrive.
2. On landing, switch the eSIM line on and choose it for mobile data.
3. Turn on data roaming for that line, and keep roaming off on your home SIM.

When is a Chinese SIM the better choice? If you are staying for a long time, need a Chinese number for local services that send verification texts, or mainly want low-cost data inside China, a local SIM is worth considering. Beijing's government guide explains that foreign visitors can buy one with a valid passport. They are sold at operator service halls and at service counters in Beijing's Capital and Daxing airports, with up to five numbers per passport. A local SIM uses China's filtered internet. A roaming eSIM needs no Chinese registration.