Shanghai Life: Get Your Mobile On

One thing I love about rapidly developing countries is the vast mobile infrastructure and widespread connectivity. Almost everyone who is old enough to graduate from kindergarten is eligible to carry a mobile phone in China.The coverage is good and most foreigners will be immediately connected to a Chinese network upon landing at Pudong airport, (hello "CMCC") where you can call-and-be-called at obscene rates (as compared to China local rates) charged by your favorite mobile company at home. First thing first - on my recon trip to Shanghai, I got my first Chinese mobile phone.

Phone + SIM: These two can be obtained in various ways. Go to any China Mobile or China Unicom retailers, most newsstands, convenience stores, phone shops, or even shady-looking street-corner person-with-a-stool with lots of numbers written on a chalk board. A cheap mobile handset can be bought from 200 RMB up, a prepaid SIM card probably will cost $50-60 RMB up - the price largely depends on whether you pick a lucky number. (See explanation below) Since Chinese people are entrepreneurial in nature, the luckiest numbers can cost anywhere from 500 RMB to 1 million  RMB or even more (yes you read that right!)

SIM Only: If you have an unlocked mobile phone, feel free to buy a SIM card only and use it. Chinese networks are on GSM and supports dual bands (900/1800). It should work.

Chinese Mobile Numbers Decoded: Chinese mobile numbers comes in the 3-4-4 format with 11 digits, which seem to beat the memory capacity of your average foreigner. However, if you look closely, the first 3 is determined by the region and mobile company, such as 133, 134, 135, etc. Then you can play with the rest. However, you can select your number either at the local mobile retail offices or online at places like Xuanhao.com (Literally, "pick a number.com") where your lucky number is pre-purchased and resold.

If you are a lazy, oops I mean efficient, ex-foreign resident, just use the first 3 digits then add your 8 digits home mobile if you are from London, or use 1330, 1340, etc, then add the 7 digit home mobile if you are from the US. For Chinese, the matter gets complicated due to luck factors, and it deserves another blog.

Personal Experience in quest for mobile: 

Bombshell Move: Picked up a SIM card on Xuanhao.com before landing in China which didn't cost me more than a regular Chinese dinner out and made me feel 2x better as a superstitious Chinese, and 5x better when I gave this number to my superstitious Chinese family, relatives and friends. :) Then, went to a street corner shady stand and picked up a refill ticket worth 100 RMB. Popped it into my unlocked Android phone, viola - worked!

Blunder Moment: Picked up an IP card from another cigarette stand to make international calls and paid the face value - 100 RMB, which contains full 100 RMB worth of minutes. My Shanghainese auntie looked horrified and told me I should have negotiated and NEVER pay face value on the street. She claims it should only cost me 50-60 RMB and I should never be let out on the street alone again. Lesson learned.

Sausages, Scorpions, or SIM, Sir?