China is the one trip where preparing your phone matters as much as packing your bag. The apps you rely on at home may vanish at the border, and the apps everyone uses there may not be on your phone yet. A little preparation turns that into a non-event.
What changes when you arrive
On mainland China’s local networks, many foreign services are blocked: Google and everything built on it — Gmail, Maps, Drive — as well as WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, X and YouTube. Hotel wifi and local SIM cards sit behind the same filter. For a first-time visitor, it can feel like half the phone has switched off.
Why a travel eSIM usually avoids the problem
A travel eSIM works by roaming. Your data is carried through the local network and back out of the mainland, and reaches the internet somewhere else — usually Hong Kong or Singapore. Services that are blocked inside China therefore usually open just as they would there.
This is how international roaming has always worked; it is not a VPN, and there is nothing extra to install. One thing to remember: it applies to mobile data only. Join the hotel wifi and you are back behind the local filter — so for the apps you depend on, keep mobile data on.
Hong Kong or Singapore: which IP location to pick
Through a Hong Kong IP, Google, WhatsApp and Instagram usually open. ChatGPT and Claude usually don’t, because Hong Kong is not on their lists of supported countries. Through Singapore, all of them are usually available.
Our China plans print their IP location beside the price, so you can choose before you pay. If an AI assistant is part of your trip — for translation, for work — pick Singapore where it is sold.
The Chinese apps you will actually use
Payments in China run on Alipay and WeChat Pay, and both now accept international Visa and Mastercard cards — set them up at home and link your card before you fly. DiDi books taxis and has an English interface. Amap (Gaode) or Baidu Maps navigate far better than Google Maps inside China. Meituan delivers food, and WeChat doubles as the messenger everyone will ask you for.
Install them on wifi at home and complete each sign-up while your own number can still receive its text codes. That one evening of preparation is the difference between a smooth first day and an afternoon at a hotel desk.
Other routes travellers take
A local Chinese SIM is cheap, but it sits behind the same filter as hotel wifi, and buying one means a shop visit and passport registration. Some visitors rely on VPN apps instead; VPN use is tightly restricted in China and those apps often struggle to connect, so many travellers find them unreliable. A roaming eSIM avoids needing one at all for mobile data — which is why it has become the usual choice for short visits.
What it costs
Unlimited data for China starts at $6.49 for a week and $20.49 for a month — read live from the shop, the total for the whole plan, no subscription.
Before you go
Choose your plan and its IP location; install the eSIM at home. Set up Alipay or WeChat Pay with your card. Install DiDi and Amap. Download offline maps and anything you want to read on the flight. Keep your own SIM on for bank texts.