Land in China. Keep your apps.

A SIM card built into the phone as software. You install a plan by scanning a QR code instead of pushing a chip into a tray, and the plastic SIM you already have stays exactly where it is.

Most phones sold since 2018: iPhone XS and newer, Samsung Galaxy S20 and newer, Google Pixel 3 and newer, and most current Android models. The phone also has to be carrier-unlocked. The big exception is phones bought in mainland China itself, which mostly ship without eSIM — but the handset a visitor arrives with almost always qualifies. Our setup guides show where to check on your model.

At home over Wi-Fi, a day or two before departure — the download needs a working connection, so it is not a job for the arrivals hall. In China the timing matters more than usual: once you are on a local connection the app stores themselves are hard to reach, so get the app, the plan and the install all done before the flight. Nothing starts running early — the clock begins when the eSIM first connects to a network in mainland China.

That is the point of a travel eSIM like this one. Your data routes through an international network, the way roaming on your home SIM does, so the apps on your phone behave the way they do at home — no VPN to set up, nothing to configure. This is a property of how roaming works, not a promise about any particular service on any particular day. One caveat worth knowing: hotel and café Wi-Fi are local connections with local rules, so an app that works on the eSIM may not work on the Wi-Fi. When an app misbehaves, switch Wi-Fi off and let the eSIM carry it.

Yes. The eSIM is data-only, so your home line stays active for your number, your SMS codes and your messaging accounts. Point mobile data at the eSIM and leave the rest alone. What you do not get is a Chinese (+86) number. Most tourist-facing services accept a foreign number, but a few mainland apps insist on a local one to register, and a data plan cannot provide it.

It runs on nationwide Chinese networks: LTE wherever they reach, and 5G in most cities. Because the data travels an international route, latency runs a touch higher than a local SIM — something you might notice in a fast online game, not in maps, payment apps, streaming or video calls.