China Transit Guide

China SIM Card for Tourists: Buying a Local SIM With a Passport, or Using an eSIM

Published 2026-10-06 · Updated 2026-10-06

China SIM Card for Tourists: Local SIM or eSIM?

You can get around China with a travel eSIM and your home number. But a few things work better, or only work, with a Chinese mobile number: some ticket bookings, verification codes, and apps that send an SMS. This guide explains how to buy a local SIM as a visitor, what the rules are, and when an eSIM is enough.

Checked on 6 October 2026. Prices and plans are set by each operator, so check at the counter.

The rules for foreigners buying a SIM

China requires real-name registration for every phone number. Operators must register users' real identities, and they're responsible for making sure their agents do too (Anti-Telecom and Online Fraud Law, Art. 9).

For foreign visitors, the practical rules come from an April 2026 guide published by the Tianjin Communications Administration, part of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT Tianjin guide):

Question Answer
What ID? Your passport (or a Foreign Permanent Resident ID card)
Where? The operator's own branded service halls
Can someone go for you? No. You must apply in person with your ID
Phone requirement A phone that supports 5G or VoLTE
How many cards? No more than 5 per operator nationwide; if you have 10 or more across all operators, further cards only from operators' own halls
Plans and prices Set by each operator

The three operators' hotlines are 10000 (China Telecom), 10086 (China Mobile) and 10010 (China Unicom). You can call them, or search "nearby business halls" in each operator's app, to find a hall (MIIT Tianjin guide).

Beijing: order online, collect at the airport

Beijing's government guide adds a convenient option. You apply online and collect the card at the "Beijing Service" counter at the airport: China Unicom at Daxing, China Mobile at Capital. Other points from the guide (Beijing SIM guide):

  • each passport holder can have up to five SIM cards, each with a different number
  • service halls typically open 8:30 to 20:00, seven days a week, though hours vary
  • processing is immediate
  • there's no processing fee; you pay only for the plan

What travellers report

A Xiaohongshu checklist for foreign visitors, saved hundreds of times, suggests a two-step approach (全A少女瑞秋):

  1. Buy a short travel eSIM before you fly, so you have data the moment you land.
  2. Once you're in, take your passport to an operator's hall and buy a prepaid local SIM. The author gives an example China Mobile plan of 50 yuan a month for 25 GB, and notes the phone needs a physical SIM slot.

The author found the local number most useful for restaurant queueing and booking apps. Commenters reported mixed eSIM speeds, and one said a roaming foreign number was enough for ride-hailing but not for food delivery orders. These are individual experiences; plans and prices are set by each operator.

When you'll want a Chinese number

  • Some bookings. Beijing's 12345 hotline confirms that the Summer Palace's online booking needs a mainland mobile number, and suggests foreigners without one buy at the entrance window with a passport instead (Beijing 12345).
  • Verification codes. On 12306, the national rail booking site, a Xiaohongshu user helping foreign friends found that verification codes had to go to a Chinese phone, so a local friend's number was used (惠发财_DE). See buying train tickets for a foreign friend.
  • Delivery and queueing apps, according to the traveller reports above.

When an eSIM or roaming is enough

  • Ride-hailing. DiDi supports registration with an overseas phone number, according to Guangzhou's Foreign Affairs Office (GDToday).
  • Metro. In Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou you can tap a contactless bank card at the gate. See metro and DiDi for foreigners.
  • Payments. Alipay and WeChat Pay accept foreign bank cards. See how foreigners pay in China.

For a short stopover, a travel eSIM plus roaming may cover everything. For a longer trip with lots of bookings, a local SIM is worth the trip to a service hall.

Step by step: buying a SIM in a service hall

  1. Check your phone. It needs 5G or VoLTE support and, for a physical SIM, a free slot. Make sure it isn't locked to your home carrier.
  2. Find an operator's own hall, not a reseller. Use the hotline or the operator's app.
  3. Bring your passport. You have to go in person.
  4. Take a queue number if the hall uses them. Beijing's guide says you may go straight to the window if it's quiet (Beijing SIM guide).
  5. Choose a prepaid plan and ask how to top up. The MIIT guide lists the operator's halls, partner halls, app and online hall as top-up channels (MIIT Tianjin guide).
  6. Test it before you leave the counter: make a call and receive a text.

Checklist

  • Phone unlocked, with 5G or VoLTE, and a physical slot for a local SIM
  • Travel eSIM installed before departure
  • Passport with you (in person only)
  • Operator hall located, or Beijing airport pickup booked online
  • Local number added to the apps that need it: rail, delivery, bookings

On a 240-hour visa-free stopover? Check your plan with our transit checker and read the entry checklist.

Traveller reports we referenced

We used these Xiaohongshu posts for real-world experience and wrote our own summary. Nothing was translated or copied, and rules above come from official sources.

Sources

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