Chinese pre-paid SIM cards

[stucetu]

Does anyone know a good place to get pre paid sim cards for use in China?

[imron]

Any corner store.

[anonymoose]

Really? I thought it was more complicated than that, since one has to supply ID (as far as I know, but I could be wrong).

[imron]

The last few years I've gone back for visits I have always gotten SIM cards from small corner shops. Only once was I asked for ID and I had my passport with me so it wasn't an issue. They may/may not have written down my passport number upon purchase I can't recall, but there was certainly no impediment to buying one.

[roddy]

I think what happens is that someone'll buy a batch from China Mobile and those cards all get registered to one name. They then get resold and make their way to you and your phone. So technically it is registered, just not to the person using it.

Certainly I've had SIM cards in the past where, when I've logged in to the website online, there's a name I've never heard of or used. Ok, once. Years back. Might be stricter now.

You might actually not want to do that - if you lose a phone and want to get your number back, it's likely a lot easier if your SIM is properly registered, in which case you might want to go to a China Mobile agent. There's no shortage of them.