Skip to main content
Solved

China Beijing Roaming

B
New
 Contributor

Landed in Beijing yesterday, cannot get WeChat, WhatsApp or messages to work. I had a message from ID mobile on power on saying I’ve used 80% of my bill cap. I added £10 but still nothing. What do I need to do to be able to send/receive messages from my UK ID mobile SIM card in Beijing? 🤔

Best answer by andewhite

 

En70uk wrote:

 

Hi Is there a bundle available that will let me avoid these charges, I fly on Monday

iD Mobile doesn’t offer any roaming bundles or add-ons for China, @En70uk. 

The best option is probably a data-only eSIM or local SIM card, if your handset supports dual SIM use.  

View original
This topic has been closed for replies.

11 replies

Kash M
iD Mobile Employee
Forum|alt.badge.img+24
  • Kash M
  • iD Mobile Employee
  • 8193 replies
  • March 29, 2024

Hi @BarryEd,

Welcome to the Community!

Whilst in China, please try and connect to CHN-CUGSM.

Please also ensure that roaming is enabled on the iD handset and your iD Mobile account.

The roaming charges for China are below;

Roaming Pay monthly Pay-as-you-go
Calls to UK* £2.40 £2.40
Calls to China* £2.40 £2.40
Calls received* £2.40 £2.40
Texts to China** £0.60 £0.60
Texts to UK** £0.60 £0.60
Picture message (MMS) sent** £0.60 £0.60
Internet and Data (per MB)*** £1.50 £1.50

 

Kash

Did my comment help answer your question? If so, don't forget to mark the response as the Most Helpful Answer.
E
New
 Contributor
  • En70uk
  • New
 Contributor
  • 2 replies
  • April 11, 2024
Kash wrote:

Hi @BarryEd,

Welcome to the Community!

Whilst in China, please try and connect to CHN-CUGSM.

Please also ensure that roaming is enabled on the iD handset and your iD Mobile account.

The roaming charges for China are below;

Roaming Pay monthly Pay-as-you-go
Calls to UK* £2.40 £2.40
Calls to China* £2.40 £2.40
Calls received* £2.40 £2.40
Texts to China** £0.60 £0.60
Texts to UK** £0.60 £0.60
Picture message (MMS) sent** £0.60 £0.60
Internet and Data (per MB)*** £1.50 £1.50

 

Kash

 

Hi Is there a bundle available that will let me avoid these charges, I fly on Monday

andewhite
Platinum 
Contributor
Forum|alt.badge.img+26
  • andewhite
  • Platinum 
Contributor
  • 12531 replies
  • Answer
  • April 11, 2024

 

En70uk wrote:

 

Hi Is there a bundle available that will let me avoid these charges, I fly on Monday

iD Mobile doesn’t offer any roaming bundles or add-ons for China, @En70uk. 

The best option is probably a data-only eSIM or local SIM card, if your handset supports dual SIM use.  

Forum member (non-iD).
E
1 person likes this
  • E
    En70uk
E
New
 Contributor
  • En70uk
  • New
 Contributor
  • 2 replies
  • April 11, 2024
andewhite wrote:

 

En70uk wrote:

 

Hi Is there a bundle available that will let me avoid these charges, I fly on Monday

iD Mobile doesn’t offer any roaming bundles or add-ons for China, @En70uk. 

The best option is probably a data-only eSIM or local SIM card, if your handset supports dual SIM use.  

Thanks

 

Will go Esim

andewhite
1 person likes this
  • andewhite
    andewhite
Tom
iD Mobile Employee
Forum|alt.badge.img+25
  • Tom
  • iD Mobile Employee
  • 8484 replies
  • April 13, 2024

Hi @En70uk 

 

Unfortunately we don’t offer any sort of bundles like this, it may be worth exploring what @andewhite suggests to avoid high charges.

 

Tom

Did my comment help answer your question? If so, don't forget to mark the response as the Most Helpful Answer.
B
1 person likes this
  • B
    BarryEd
B
New
 Contributor
  • BarryEd
  • Author
  • New
 Contributor
  • 1 reply
  • June 7, 2024

Many thanks all for the replies and apologies for the late response. Now back in UK. When in Beijing my phone never ever showed the CHN-CUGSM network. In the end I gave up with my ID mobile, and got the use of a local sim mobile while there. Now I see from the replies above that ID mobile do not have any bundles or add-ons for China. A shame really as if I had been totally dependent on my ID mobile then I would have been rightly “stuck”. 

Tyler C
iD Mobile Employee
Forum|alt.badge.img+24
  • Tyler C
  • iD Mobile Employee
  • 5144 replies
  • June 19, 2024

Hey there @BarryEd, thank you for letting us know and our apologies for that, we shall take the feedback on-board.

 

Thank you,

Tyler

Did my comment help answer your question? If so, don't forget to mark the response as the Most Helpful Answer.
P
New
 Contributor
  • Paupau
  • New
 Contributor
  • 2 replies
  • February 16, 2025

Hi will I be able to connect to hotel WiFi? I plan to use Microsoft outlook to contact home. I will be in China in a few weeks. Also got an ESim to use when I get there. Could I use WhatsApp from that?

N
iD Mobile Employee
Forum|alt.badge.img+22
  • Natalie W
  • iD Mobile Employee
  • 2349 replies
  • February 16, 2025

Hi ​@Paupau 

 

Thanks for posting. 

 

You should not have any issues connecting to WiFi whilst in China. 

If you have roaming activated, you will be able to use WhatsApp but as China is not in our inclusive roaming, please be aware there will be charges for using the service whilst there. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks, 

 

Nat 

Did my comment help answer your question? If so, don't forget to mark the response as the Most Helpful Answer.
P
New
 Contributor
  • Paupau
  • New
 Contributor
  • 2 replies
  • February 16, 2025

Thank you that was helpful, I will try to avoid most cellular phone use. I plan to use WiFi mainly. A further problem is that Google is blocked, so I have set up my old Microsoft hotmail email which should work. 

I have been advised to get an E SIM which will activate when I get to China. Plus I've downloaded Alipay to buy things in China with a travel card in reserve if that fails.

Let's see how it goes when I actually arrive,

Thanks

Pauline 

N
iD Mobile Employee
Forum|alt.badge.img+22
  • Natalie W
  • iD Mobile Employee
  • 2349 replies
  • February 17, 2025

Thank you for your reply ​@Paupau 

When you are not using roaming, we recommend switching to airplane mode to avoid unwanted charges.

You can also set up/adjust your spend cap via the iD Mobile app.

Please do let us know how you get on :)

 

Thanks, 

 

Nat 

Did my comment help answer your question? If so, don't forget to mark the response as the Most Helpful Answer.

Not the answer you were looking for?


Create a new topic and ask a question to the iD Community.


Create a topic
Perks banner
Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement