China--- cell phone rental

[catmanbruce]

I am traveling to China for a Land/River tour this August. Has anyone had any experience with a cell phone rental in China? Any information would be appreciated.

 

Bruce

[Dice]

No. But I would think international calls would cost even more on a rented cell phone than a land line.

[smeyer418]

according to Verizon, verizon cell phone will work in China- roaming .69 a minute.I believe. They probably won't work on the river cruise- main cities only. We used the internet-at the hotels it was free.

[Ka Honu]

I ran into a guy in Shanghai who was using his TREO 600 with a locally purchased SIM - said it worked okay. I took my iPAQ without voice and used free Wi-Fi about once a week to clean out my Email and browse my hometown newspaper. That was more than enough.

 

Cell phone reception (regardless of carrier) is "sketchy" on the Yangtze - they use cell technology for the on board Internet connections and it's both slow and occasionally not there at all. Unless you really need voice, I'd stick with the Internet connections and/or free Wi-Fi where available (most of the hotels you'll stay at and the occasional coffee shop).

 

My real advice is, "You're on vacation - connect only to check on emergencies you can do something about. Anything else detracts from the experience."

[shmabbies]

I have a GSM phone and T-Mobile service and it worked everywhere except Xian, including on the Yangtze (not that I had my phone on 24/7, however). I have to admit I would watch for visible cell towers along the river but now & then I would turn it on just to see if I picked up a signal (because I was curious) and a lot of the time I did. With all due respect, my two cents is that I don't think it's appropriate to comment on why Catmanbruce or anyone wants to know about a means of staying touch with home. Everyone has their own reasons, including family issues, that sometimes we can't even fathom. For some of us, it does NOT detract from the experience to have the home folks be able to reach us, rather it gives us a comfort level, and the cost is something we factor into our vacation. Not everyone has the luxury to be totally unreachable, and not everyone has family that has internet.:o

[catmanbruce]

Thanks for your information and "concerns", as we have elderly parents we feel the need for emergency contact numbers and those "just in cases".

 

Bruce

[shmabbies]

Catmanbruce - Ditto for us, and DH is an only child without a soul of other family members besides the very elderly parents. No way we can be cavalier about the need to stay in touch. Good luck!

[Ka Honu]

Sorry - didn't mean to flick everyone's Bic. There are obviously reasons one must stay in touch and I understand most of them. My comment was not directed at people who have those issues but rather at the ones who refuse or forget to enjoy the trip and spend about half their time on any vacation checking email, browsing the net, etc., thereby missing the whole point of visiting other places or getting away from as much of it as you can. I can't believe that sentence ended up that long.

[DL111255]

We are cruising with Viking River in August and with my visa application (from Viking) they included a rental form for a global cellular phone. The cost was $29. for up to nine days, $49. for up to sixteen days, plus airtime. The cost quoted for China is: $1.89 incoming calls, .89 for local calls (who do you know in China?) and $2.99 to the US. (per minute) The phone comes pre-programmed with the numbers you have given them, and it comes with a return box. The charges are posted to a CC given at the time of application. It does say it can take up to 2 months for the charges to appear on your card.

[catmanbruce]

Check out mobal.com It is the best deal and service we found. Good luck.

 

Bruce

[unberwoob]

DL121255

At mobilerental.com you can BUY a phone for $49.00. It's yours for any future trips, you just pay for calls.

Dennis U