Internet in China for travellers: which eSIM to choose

Which plan suits you, by trip length

A quick guide. In China it's worth going one step above what you'd pick for another destination, for the reasons we explain just below.

Prices include VAT and match the China plan page. The largest plan we sell here is 50 GB, for €54.95.

Look at the validity as well as the GB: the 1 GB plan, 7 days; 3 to 50 GB, 30 days. There's also an unlimited GB plan with 2 GB a day at full speed (then 1 Mbps until the next day): 7 days for €19.95. Work it out in two minutes.

Weighing up an unlimited plan instead? Compare the prices, duration by duration, in Glowi vs Holafly in China.

How many GB is enough?

In other countries you upload your photos at night on the hotel Wi-Fi. In China that doesn't always work: Wi-Fi goes through the Chinese network, and your usual apps won't open there (we explain why further down). Assume almost everything will run on mobile data, at the hotel too.

• Maps, messaging, paying by phone and booking taxis: 5 GB a week is plenty if you don't watch video.
• With social media and photos every day: that's where 10 GB fits well.
• Video, video calls or sharing data with another phone: better 20 GB, or the unlimited GB plan.

These are estimates, not official figures. The ranges, with figures, are in how much data a trip uses.

Where your traffic exits, and why it matters in China

In China, your traffic exits via Singapore. The eSIM connects to China Unicom's or China Telecom's 5G network, but it reaches the internet from Singapore, and websites see you as connecting from there.

In mainland China many services are blocked for anyone connecting through the Chinese network. According to the list maintained on Wikipedia, they include Google Search (since 2014), YouTube, Facebook and X (since 2009), Instagram (since 2014), Telegram (since 2015) and WhatsApp (since 2017). Freedom House describes the same filter, which blocks thousands of domains.

Other eSIM providers whose traffic exits outside China, and travellers who have used them, report that because the traffic leaves through another country, those services open on the eSIM's data. We haven't tested this on the ground with ours, so we don't promise it. If your work depends on a particular app, don't take it for granted that it will work. What is certain is that none of this applies to the hotel Wi-Fi: that traffic goes through the Chinese network.

Some services decide what you can use based on the country you're connecting from, so one or two may behave as if you were in Singapore. The exit country is on the plan page, before you buy.

Sources: Wikipedia, list of websites blocked in mainland China (checked on 06-11-2026; the table itself warns that it needs updating) and Freedom House, Freedom on the Net 2025 (June 2024 to May 2025).

Wi-Fi, VPNs and local SIMs

• Hotel, airport or café Wi-Fi goes through the Chinese network: it works for Chinese apps, but not for the blocked ones.
• VPNs: since 2017, only state-authorised VPNs are legal in China, and the authorities have warned against using them to get round the filter. We don't recommend any. The eSIM isn't a VPN: it's a data plan that connects to a Chinese network.
• A Chinese SIM from the airport requires your passport and registration in your name at the counter, and its traffic goes through the Chinese network, with the same blocks as Wi-Fi. Its advantage is a Chinese number, which some local apps ask for to verify you by text.

Sources: Wikipedia, "Great Firewall" (checked on 06-11-2026) on VPNs; SinoWander (09-06-2026) and Jetpac (16-06-2026, sells eSIMs) on local SIMs and Wi-Fi.

Paying, getting around and coverage

In China a lot of payments are made by phone, with Alipay or WeChat Pay QR codes, and taxis are booked through apps. All of that needs a connection there and then: running out of data mid-afternoon matters more than in other destinations.

• Set up the apps at home. Alipay has accepted foreign users since 2019 (Wikipedia, "Alipay"), but it's better to create the account and link your card calmly before you leave.
• If you see you're running low on data, top up in time from My eSIM, using the link in your email.
• The 5G network is very extensive: China had around 4.76 million 5G base stations at the end of October 2025, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (China Daily, 11-12-2025). In mountains and gorges, as with any operator, there will be patches with no signal: have your maps downloaded.

If you're also going to Hong Kong or Macao, check their own pages: they have their own plans, in the Hong Kong eSIM and the Macao eSIM.

What about your operator's roaming?

China is outside the EU, so roaming isn't included in a Spanish tariff and is charged separately.

For example, Vodafone Spain puts China in its Zone 3, with a 1 GB daily add-on that's paid separately and renews automatically every 24 hours; without the add-on, it charges per megabyte. Every operator has its own rates: check its website or app before you go, and if you're not going to use it, turn off data roaming on your usual line.

Vodafone terms checked on vodafone.es/roaming on 06-11-2026.

How to activate it

1. Install it at home, on Wi-Fi. Installing uses no plan data and doesn't start the clock.
2. When you land, turn on data roaming for the eSIM line.
3. The days start counting from your first connection to a Chinese network, not when you buy.

Steps for each phone model are in the installation guide; if you're not sure about your phone, check the compatibility checker. If it doesn't connect when you arrive, the APN for China is in troubleshooting.

Frequently asked questions about internet in China