China eSIM with a phone number
No, and neither can anyone else selling travel eSIMs. We rent numbers in the United States and Canada only, so there is no China number to give you. What follows is what actually works instead, why you probably need less than you think, and what it costs.
01Your own number
It keeps working. That is the answer
This is the part that goes unsaid and it settles the question for most people. A data eSIM adds a second connection to your phone. It does not replace your SIM and it does not take your number away, so calls and texts to the number your family, your bank and your airline already have keep arriving in China exactly as they do at home.
Turn data roaming off on your own line so it cannot quietly bill you, and leave the line itself switched on. You then have your usual number for anything that needs to reach you, and the eSIM carrying everything that needs data.
02Why people ask, in China
What a local number is actually for here
Mainland services are built around a Chinese mobile number, and a hotel, a hospital desk or a driver will ask for one as a matter of course.
A Chinese number is issued against Chinese identity documents at a shop counter, which is a real-world errand no eSIM seller can do for you from abroad, ours included.
03A number that rings anywhere
Rent a US or Canadian number instead
If what you need is a number people can call you on, rather than that number being local to China specifically, this is the thing that works. It rings in your browser wherever you are, including in China, and it stays yours between trips.
$5.00 a month, drawn from the same balance as the data. You can hand it back whenever you like.
How the rented numbers work04Calling China
Ring China over the data you just bought
The balance that buys the data also places calls, from the browser, with no app. Here is what a call to China costs, per minute, from the published card.
- landline$0.59/min
- mobile$0.59/min
Billed per minute, part of a minute counting as a whole one. Charged in US dollars.
Every rate for China05What this is not
No China number, and no way around it
Numbers in China are issued by operators there, usually against local documents in person. We rent in the United States and Canada and that list has not moved since it shipped.
Not a number for bank or app verification codes
Banks and most large platforms reject numbers like these on purpose, whoever you buy them from. If the reason you want a number is to receive a code, this will not do it and we would rather say so now than take the money.
The data plan itself carries no number at all
It is data, the same as every travel eSIM sold by anybody. The number is a separate thing you rent, and the two are only related in that one balance pays for both.
No emergency calling
Emergency numbers are blocked rather than quietly failing. In China you dial the local emergency number on your own SIM, which works with no credit and no signal on your own network.
06Questions
Can I get a China phone number with an eSIM?
Not from us, and not from any of the international eSIM sellers either. We rent numbers in the United States and Canada only. A China number is issued by a China operator, usually against local identity documents at a counter, which is an errand nobody can do for you from abroad. What we can do is give you a number people can reach you on and a way to call China numbers cheaply, which is what the rest of this page is about.
Will my own number still work while I use the eSIM?
Yes, and this is the part most people do not realise until they try it. A data eSIM adds a second connection to the phone and leaves your existing SIM in place, so calls and texts to the number your family and your bank already have keep arriving exactly as they do at home. You turn data roaming off on your own line so it does not quietly bill you, and leave the line itself switched on.
How do I call a China number while I am there?
Over the data you just bought. The same balance that pays for the eSIM calls any phone number in the world at published per-minute rates, from the browser, with no app to install. That is the half of this that the data-only sellers do not have, and it is why the rates are printed further up this page rather than hidden behind a signup.
Does the eSIM come with a number for texts?
No. It is a data plan, so it carries internet and nothing else, and that is true of every travel eSIM sold by anybody. Your own SIM keeps receiving your texts. A rented number can receive texts, and it is a the United States and Canada number rather than a China one.
Data for China, from $3.90
Pick a plan and install it before you fly. Add a number whenever you want one.