The Connection

What are the ways of communication when you are in China?

1. Snail Mail

In BLCU, we have a post office inside the campus. You can send mails and packages to your love ones abroad through snail mail. The Post Office is beside Cernet, (we will talk about Cernet later)

2. Phone (Telephone or Mobile Phone)

Let's talk about the mobile phone or cellphone. I am not familiar with telephone or fixed-line.

There are 2 popular mobile service provider in China namely China Mobile and China Unicom.

China Mobile

China Mobile is the more popular in China because its rates are cheaper and it gives customers more choices. It has different brands such as M-zone (this targets the youth), Go Tone, Easy Own, etc. When you register in BLCU, the teachers will give you an M-zone sim card. However, you this SIM card cannot be used for foreign calls/SMS.  This can only be used locally. You can either buy Jia Jia or Hello.

China Unicom

China Unicom is positioned for the high-end part of the market. Their rates are a little more expensive than China Mobile. The advantage of China Unicom over China Mobile is the 3g network. China Unicom has been awarded to provide for 3g networks. Their WiFi coverage is also better.

Side note:

The Sad SIM card Story

September 9, 2011, I arrived in Beijing International Airport. There are many booths all over the airport which sell SIM card. When I asked the sales lady how much, she said 150RMB (roughly more than Php1000. In the Philippines, SIM cards only cost less than Php50.). At that time, I did not buy because I thought it was expensive; and it's the airport, everything there is more expensive than the outside. During my registration in BLCU, I was given an M-zone sim card. But, I cannot send message or call using that SIM card.

The following day (Sept10), my mom and I went to Wangfujin Street. It's a tourist shopping area similar to Hong Kong's Nathan Road or New York's Time Square. I saw a "China Mobile" shop. So we went and ask why I cannot use the SIM card. Only one sales person knows English. She explained to us that M-zone SIM cards can only be used in China; it cannot be use for communicating abroad. In addition, that SIM card does not have fund/balance/credit in it. She said if we want to call or text abroad we need to buy another SIM card. She then showed us different numbers; each number has a corresponding price. In China they have what we call "lucky numbers". We ask for the cheapest, she said 280RMB. This one is a random number with no credit at all, just the SIM card. She said we need to put 200RMB credit to activate the international call/text. Therefore, I paid 480RMB for the SIM Card. 480RMB can already buy me a low-end cellphone!

When my mom left, I roam around the airport for the free WiFi. I approach one seller of SIM cards and asked again for details of SIM cards. I showed her my SIM card and told her the story. The very same brand of SIM card that I bought in "China Mobile" Wangfujin is the same SIM card that is sold in the airport for 150RMB with 30RMB credit. Mine was 280RMB with 0 credit! She was very helpful. She called the China Mobile hotline to ask my questions. In the end, I went to China Mobile office in the airport and even the staffs in the office was shocked by the price of my SIM card. They do not know why my SIM card is so expensive but they offered an intelligent guess. They said that the "China Mobile" in Wangfujin is not really China Mobile despite the fact that their store signage said "China Mobile". Therefore, the difference is the price could be profit of the retailer or distributor. In fact, after this incidence, I realized that many stores will have "China Mobile" and "China Unicom" as their store signage but they are only retailers and distributors.

Therefore, I suggest it is better to buy in the airport because (1) sellers can speak English and (2) you can be sure that they are not retailers.

3. Mobile Internet

Again, there are only two popular choices in terms of mobile internet. Let's talk about China Mobile first.

China Mobile offers GPRS, TD-SCDMA (see Wikipedia for definition), and WiFi. Hello SIM Card does not have mobile internet capabilitie,  JiaJia, M-zone, and the rest have. Here is the GPRS packages

Cost in RMB	Monthly Allocation
2	10MB
5	30MB
10	70MB
20	150MB
50	500MB
100	2GB
200	5GB

You have to note that these packages will not be available to you immediately. Your SIM card should be 1-month old before you can avail of these packages. For the time being, the GPRS rate is 0.01RMB/KB.

If you want to use WiFi instead of GPRS, just turn on your device's WiFi, scan and connect to CMCC hotspot, and open an internet browser and go to any site. It will load a page of China Mobile like this:

Encode your China Mobile number and choose the package that you prefer. After that, wait the username and password that will be sent to your mobile phone. Use those to log in.

The rates are:
0.05RMB/minute (any excess of the packages are charged at this rate)


Monthly package
30RMB/12hrs
50RMB/40hrs
100RMB/200hrs.


Unlimited package
2.5RMB/1hr
20RMB/1 day
70RMB/1 week
200RMB/ 1 month

China Unicom, on the other hand, offers 3G service. Their Wifi hotspot signal is way better than China Mobile. I experience WiFi network interruption a lot from China Mobile, for instance inside the Dinning Hall there is no China Mobile Wifi hotspot. There are many places in BLCU which have low or no signal for the China Mobile WiFi. China Unicom's WiFi signal is pretty strong and consistent. However, I do not know the rates of their WiFi. But here's their monthly rate for 3G plan:

Monthly Package for China Unicom

There are other packages, but the above packages is more focused on 3G service. I cannot provide much info on China Unicom aside from the table above because I personally do not use it. 

4. CERNET

The last way to stay connected with your love ones is through a local area network connection or wired internet connection. Remember I told you that rooms in the dorm have provision for wired internet? (If you cannot remember, read this.) There is only 1 wired internet provider in BLCU, CERNET. What you need to  get a connection. You need:

• Passport
• Laptop (you need to bring you laptop to the office)
• Money

Their office is open from 10am-6pm, Mondays-Saturdays. Go there, and just say you want internet, they will give you application form and ask for your dorm and room number. Come in before 5PM. I went there at 5:15PM, Friday (Sept 16, 2011), and they told me to go back next Monday. They no longer entertain customers, when they no longer want to entertain customers.

They charge 140RMB/month for unlimited internet usage. If I remember it correctly, you can get 1 year subscription for 1600RMB. They also have 40hrs, 80hrs packages, but I cannot remember the prices. Aside from the subscription fee, you will be charged 50RMB non-refundable connection fee. You will also pay the LAN cables. 

CERNET is located very near the West Gate. Here's visual aid: