China eSIM on iPhone: Install and Setup Guide
Install a China eSIM on iPhone before you fly: the iOS menus that keep moving, the one roaming toggle, and why this is a job for home Wi-Fi, not arrivals.
Updated August 24, 2026
Three things to know before you start
It connects only at your destination
Install at home, but expect “No Service” or “Activating…” until you land — that is normal. The plan wakes up when the line first finds a network at your destination.
Your QR code works exactly once
Seeing “invalid QR” after a scan almost always means the eSIM is already on your phone. Don’t rescan — open your SIM list and just switch the line on.
No internet after landing? Check Data Roaming
Turn the travel line on, set it as your mobile data line, and switch Data Roaming ON for it. This one toggle causes most “it doesn’t work” messages.
Installation steps
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Step 1
Buy your plan in the China eSIM app
Choose the plan that fits your trip and pay in the app. The QR code and manual activation details appear under the order and stay there, so a failed first attempt costs nothing.
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Step 2
Install while you are still on home Wi-Fi
The profile downloads over the internet, and this trip punishes procrastination twice: the arrivals hall gives you no easy connection, and once you are on a Chinese network the App Store itself is hard to reach if anything needs re-downloading. Being early costs no plan time — validity starts at the line's first connection in mainland China, not when you pay.
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Step 3
Open Settings and find the cellular menu
Settings Cellular Add eSIM
Tap Settings, then the cellular entry. Apple has renamed this more than once: depending on iOS version and region it reads Cellular, Mobile Data or Mobile Service. All three open the same screen, so go by position rather than wording.
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Step 4
Tap Add eSIM, then Use QR Code
Add eSIM Use QR Code
Recent iOS labels the button Add eSIM; older releases say Add Cellular Plan or Add Data Plan. Take the QR code option, not Transfer From Nearby iPhone, which moves a line you already own between handsets. Scan from a second screen, or tap Enter Details Manually and copy the SM-DP+ address and activation code across (two long strings in your order email). On iOS 17.4 or newer there is an even shorter path: long-press the QR image in the email itself and tap Add eSIM.
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Step 5
Label the line, then leave it switched off
New eSIM Custom Label
Name it China or Travel so the dual-line screens read clearly, and keep your usual SIM as the default for calls. Then disable the new line until you land; nothing is consumed while it sits there.
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Step 6
Switch it on after you land
Settings Cellular Cellular Data
On the ground, reopen the cellular menu, select the China eSIM line, turn it on and set it as the line carrying data. The phone finds a Chinese partner network on its own within a minute or two.
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Step 7
Turn Data Roaming on for the China eSIM line only
Cellular China Data Roaming
Open the China eSIM line and switch Data Roaming on. That toggle is how iOS lets a line use a network it does not belong to — and roaming is exactly what this plan is, which is also why your data takes the international route and your apps keep behaving normally. Check the toggle is still off on your home SIM, where roaming genuinely would cost you.
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Step 8
If nothing appears, force a fresh search
The phone normally registers by itself shortly after landing. If not, toggle Airplane mode. Still nothing: open Network Selection, turn Automatic off, pick an available network, let it register, then set selection back to Automatic.
The reason to sort this out before you fly is not only your carrier’s price list, though China sits in the out-of-region band for most of the world and a week of roaming there produces a bill people remember. It is that the fallbacks travelers rely on everywhere else do not hold in China. The airport counter sells local SIMs under real-name registration — passport, form, queue — and once your phone is on a local connection, the App Store is hard to reach and many of the apps you would lean on follow local network rules rather than yours.
A prepaid data eSIM settles all of it at home. Buy a plan in the China eSIM app, install a second line beside the SIM you already use, and switch it on when you land — the install over Wi-Fi first, then two settings on arrival: the eSIM as your data line, and Data Roaming on for that line alone. Because this is a roaming line, its data routes through an international network, which is why the apps on your phone keep behaving the way they do at home, with nothing extra to configure. Validity starts at the first connection in mainland China rather than at purchase, so installing early costs nothing. Plans are on the pricing page, and what an eSIM is is the shorter read if this is your first digital line.
This page covers iPhone from XS and XR onward, and flags where Apple’s menu names differ between iOS versions rather than pretending there is one fixed path. One quirk worth knowing: iPhones sold in mainland China often ship without eSIM, so if your handset was bought there, check Settings, General, About for an EID before buying a plan. On Android, start from the Samsung, Pixel or other Android page instead.
Two things we would rather you knew before buying. The plan is data-only, so it gives you no Chinese phone number; your own number rides along on your own SIM and stays reachable, and internet calling on the eSIM covers phoning home. And coverage follows the towers: excellent in the cities, along the high-speed rail corridors and in most towns, thin to absent on the high plateau of the far west and across the desert stretches. Download offline maps before any leg out there and the gap becomes an inconvenience rather than a problem. Anything else is on the FAQ.
Troubleshooting
Will the apps I use at home keep working?
This eSIM is a roaming line, so its data routes through an international network — the same arrangement as roaming on your own SIM. In practice the apps on your iPhone behave the way they do at home, with no VPN to set up. That is a property of how roaming works, not a promise about any particular service. If an app misbehaves while you are on hotel Wi-Fi, switch Wi-Fi off: the Wi-Fi is a local connection with local rules, the eSIM is not.
Do I get a Chinese phone number with this?
No. The plan is data-only, so there is no +86 number on it and no way to add one. Your own number stays on your own SIM and keeps working for calls and texts. Most tourist-facing services in China accept a foreign number, but a few local apps insist on a +86 number to register, and a data eSIM cannot provide one.
The QR code will not scan.
Raise the brightness on the screen showing the code, hold the iPhone 20-30 cm back, and get the whole square in frame without glare. If it still will not read, tap Enter Details Manually and copy the SM-DP+ address and activation code from your order — the same line results either way.
The QR code says invalid, already used, or the install fails on a second try.
An activation code is single-use, so this error almost always means the first scan already worked and the eSIM is on the phone. Do not keep rescanning. Open the phone's SIM list (the cellular or SIM manager screen) or My eSIMs in the China eSIM app: if the line is listed, the install is done — turn the line on, give it mobile data and enable Data Roaming instead of installing again.
There is no Add eSIM option, or I get eSIM Cannot Be Added.
Open Settings, General, About and look for an EID. If one is listed, the hardware is fine and the obstacle is a carrier lock — ask your operator to unlock the handset, far easier before you fly. No EID at all means the iPhone predates eSIM and needs a physical SIM. Note that iPhones bought in mainland China are the special case: many ship without eSIM even in recent generations, so check for the EID rather than trusting the model name.
I have landed and the eSIM shows no service.
Check in order that the line is on, selected for cellular data, and has Data Roaming enabled. Then toggle Airplane mode. If it stays blank, turn off automatic network selection, choose a network by hand, and switch automatic back on once it registers.
Does turning Data Roaming on mean roaming charges?
Not on this line. The plan is prepaid for exactly this kind of use, so no home operator is in the chain to bill you — the toggle only tells iOS the line may attach to a network it does not own. Keep it off on your primary SIM, which your carrier does meter.
Do I have to scan the QR code at all?
No. In the China eSIM app, open My eSIMs, tap your plan and tap Install — the profile installs on the same phone with no camera involved. The QR route exists for installing from a second screen; both end in the identical profile, and the steps after the install are the same either way.