Prepaid cards in red China

[ftg888]

ok to be fair their cdma network is ok for data, coverage is not to shabby.
But their gsm sim card rates are horrible. no promotions, and seldom
to give discounts for things. In comming calls are not free unless
you paid either 12/16 rmb a month for the privilege and getting
good customer service from the pack of wild rabid servlets are
challenging at best... just get the china mobile sim card.
it just works.

a.

[Gryphone]

So, here's the (hopefully) final version of my report.
Most importantly: credit server (10086) is free of charge


General Information

• The name of the prepaid offer is "神州行暢聽卡", pronounced Shenzhouxing Changtingka.
• Buying a SIM card is easy, you don't need any ID or whatever.
• SIM cards are linked to a specific city or province (so be sure to get one for the city you'll mainly be staying at), however you don't get a local number, all mobile number's start with (+86)13.
• It costs 100 to 130 RMB, including 50 RMB of credit.
• When actived the SIM-PIN control is offline, your standard SIM-PIN is 1234.
• There is a 6-digit PIN on a seperate card within your package, you'll need this for some service (see below).

Plans

• There are several plans depending on the city (or province), usually there is one which offers you free incoming calls for a monthly charge (16 RMB in Shanghai), the call charges are as following:
• Local calls (within your city) 0,13 RMB/min.
• Long distance calls 0,30 RMB/min.
• For international calls there are several prefixes, depending on which of them you use and where you're calling the charges are different. One of them is 12593, using it you can make calls to i.e. Western Europe for 1,2 RMB/min when using the 12593 prefix.
• Receiving calls within your city is free of charge (no matter from where), elsewhere in China incoming calls from other mobiles cost 0,60 RMB/min, for calls from fixed networks you have to pay 1,30 RMB/min.
• Texts (worldwide) cost 1 RMB
• Initial credit validity is 120 days, when recharging you get: 50 RMB -> 90 days, 100 RMB -> 180 days, 300 RMB -> 360 days and 500 RMB -> 360 days, up to a maximum of 720 days.
• Debiting is by the minute (60/60)

Other services

• the credit server (checking balance, recharging &c.) is located at 10086, when entering the menu for the first time you are asked whether you want it in Chinese or English. However the English pronounciation is quite bad.
• you can also inquire about your card online, there are websites for each city, i.e. Peking or Shanghai, you'll need your telephone number and your PIN to login. However the entire website is Chinese.
• when dialing within your home city you can dial directly without the city prefix, when calling a mobile you start with 13...
• you can't automatically call abroad, this function has to be activated first, if possible at a China Mobile store (bring your PIN), otherwise you can try to this at 10086
• International Roaming is not possible (unless you meet certain conditions, one of them is having been a customers for at least a year)

Data calls

• GPRS is possible and automatically enabled.
• for WAP use these settings: APN=cmwap and IP=10.0.0.172
• for Internet access: APN=cmnet
• It'll cost you 0,03 RMB/kb.
• There are also two monthly options, one will give you 10 MB for 5 RMB, the other 50 MB for 20 RMB. After that you pay 0,01RMB/kb.
• You can activate this options either on the internet page or in a store (be sure to bring your PIN)

[aznrocket88]

Originally Posted by Gryphone

So, here's the (hopefully) final version of my report.
Most importantly: credit server (10086) is free of charge


General Information

• The name of the prepaid offer is "神州行暢聽卡", pronounced Shenzhouxing Changtingka.
• Buying a SIM card is easy, you don't need any ID or whatever.
• SIM cards are linked to a specific city or province (so be sure to get one for the city you'll mainly be staying at), however you don't get a local number, all mobile number's start with (+86)13.
• It costs 100 to 130 RMB, including 50 RMB of credit.
• When actived the SIM-PIN control is offline, your standard SIM-PIN is 1234.
• There is a 6-digit PIN on a seperate card within your package, you'll need this for some service (see below).

Plans

• There are several plans depending on the city (or province), usually there is one which offers you free incoming calls for a monthly charge (16 RMB in Shanghai), the call charges are as following:
• Local calls (within your city) 0,13 RMB/min.
• Long distance calls 0,30 RMB/min.
• For international calls there are several prefixes, depending on which of them you use and where you're calling the charges are different. One of them is 12593, using it you can make calls to i.e. Western Europe for 1,2 RMB/min when using the 12593 prefix.
• Receiving calls within your city is free of charge (no matter from where), elsewhere in China incoming calls from other mobiles cost 0,60 RMB/min, for calls from fixed networks you have to pay 1,30 RMB/min.
• Texts (worldwide) cost 1 RMB
• Initial credit validity is 120 days, when recharging you get: 50 RMB -> 90 days, 100 RMB -> 180 days, 300 RMB -> 360 days and 500 RMB -> 360 days, up to a maximum of 720 days.
• Debiting is by the minute (60/60)

Other services

• the credit server (checking balance, recharging &c.) is located at 10086, when entering the menu for the first time you are asked whether you want it in Chinese or English. However the English pronounciation is quite bad.
• you can also inquire about your card online, there are websites for each city, i.e. Peking or Shanghai, you'll need your telephone number and your PIN to login. However the entire website is Chinese.
• when dialing within your home city you can dial directly without the city prefix, when calling a mobile you start with 13...
• you can't automatically call abroad, this function has to be activated first, if possible at a China Mobile store (bring your PIN), otherwise you can try to this at 10086
• International Roaming is not possible (unless you meet certain conditions, one of them is having been a customers for at least a year)

Data calls

• GPRS is possible and automatically enabled.
• for WAP use these settings: APN=cmwap and IP=10.0.0.172
• for Internet access: APN=cmnet
• It'll cost you 0,03 RMB/kb.
• There are also two monthly options, one will give you 10 MB for 5 RMB, the other 50 MB for 20 RMB. After that you pay 0,01RMB/kb.
• You can activate this options either on the internet page or in a store (be sure to bring your PIN)

I've read elsewhere that there are other plans for GPRS, notably a 800MB plan for 100RMB and a 2000MB plan for 350RMB. Do I absolutely have to go to a store to activate these plans on a prepaid card, if I cannot read or speak Chinese? Also, if I have per se, a Shanghai-region SIM card, will these data plans work in other cities without additional roaming fees?