Traveling To China, What Options With The iPhone Do I Have?

Cancel roaming/edge and use skype!

I wouldn't purchase an iPhone in this situation and get yourself an iPod Touch instead. If for no more than a month would be different but you have no other option but roaming internationally for calls and internet access which would be very expensive. Best to get yourself a phone and cell service in China instead. Apple is releasing an iPhone in parts of Asia sometime in 2008 but which countries this will include and when has not been announced. Unless sold as unlocked, purchasing an iPhone there would not do you any good upon your return to the U.S.

Ni Hao;

It's only $1.99 a minute if you buy AT&T's World Traveler package. Otherwise it's $2.29/minute.

AT&T has 2 data plans for travelers, at $25/month for 20 MB or $60 a month for 50 MB. With either of these plans additional data costs $5/MB instead of $20/MB. China is one of the countries where these plans are accepted. So it is practical to use your iPhone for data on AT&T's network.

An additional consideration, however, is that people in China will want to be able to call you without dialing a US number. So you should get a local, unlocked GSM phone in China for your local number. They are quite inexpensive in China. You can then either subscribe to a local plan or just buy a prepaid SIM. You will find the international rates much lower than AT&T's, so you will want to use it to call the US also. Use your iPhone only for data and for being reachable by people back in the US.

I am traveling to China with my teenagers. I will be working so I want to make sure I can stay in touch with them while they are touring. Do you have a recommendation on how to purchase a prepaid SIM card before we leave for China? These SIMs are good for domestic calls within China - correct? I cannot speak Mandarin, so I would prefer not to do this upon arrival in China. Will this prepaid SIM work in our iPhones or do we have to purchase 2 new phones? Thanks for any information you can provide.

The prepaid SIM will NOT work in your iPhone unless you unlock it, which we can't discuss here (Google is your friend). What I do when traveling is take an unlocked quad band phone in addition to my US phone and buy prepaid SIM cards when I arrive at my destination. In China this is no problem; while you may not speak Mandarin, the hawkers selling China Mobile prepaid SIMs speak enough English to consummate the deal. You will be deluged by them walking through the airport, even before you clear customs and immigration.

The SIMs you get at the airport are NOT the best deal, but you can't beat the convenience of having mobile phone service even before you leave the airport.

The standard SIM is a local one, but you can get country-wide SIMs also, and even International SIMs if you go to a China Mobile dealer in any major city. The International prepaid SIMs are a really good deal, as you can call the US for about 30 cents/minute and local calls for 3 cents(2RMB)/minute. A lot better than $1.99 or $2.29.

I still carry my AT&T phone so people can reach me, but I don't use it for making calls.

I go to China five to six times a year, and use my iPhone only for receiving calls from people outside of China that may not know I am traveling. I use a second local phone for all other calls, within China and internationally.

When you arrive in Beijing, I suggest that you get a "low cost" local GSM phone from China Mobile or China UNICOM. Use this for all of your calls within China, and for international calls WITHOUT paying a roaming fee.