Chinese SIM, goes out of Chinese airspace, gets cancelled automatically?

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I don't know if I've had this happen before or not. What did happen one time with China Mobile is, phone in hand, I left the country once for two weeks, and when I came back I had to go to a China Mobile outlet and... stand their looking dumb while the service lady did something... reinstate, reactivate, re-register, some R-activity that would let me use the old number again. To be honest i might just have run out of money, but it seemed to me like leaving the country had done something to the service.

Does it?
when ur a roamin', do as the settled do o_0

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old34

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Re: Chinese SIM, goes out of Chinese airspace, gets cancelled automatically?
« Reply #1 on: December 20, 2016, 05:14:01 AM »
When I have left the country previously, I contacted China Mobile prior to my departure and told them I was and that I'd like my phone to still work. they said, OK but that I had to add money to my account before I go. 5000 RMB as I recall, but that was a few years ago. Once the money was in my mobile account, they unlocked the phone OTA and I was able to use it abroad. Roaming charges are high, so I used it not much. But I did want people here in China to be able to reach me by my China number. Messages came through and twice people tried to call me on my China number. the calls came through, but I told them quickly that I was not in China at the mo and to contact me by email with whatever they wanted. They understood without further explanation.

Don't know the answer, but I can wager a some guesses: (1) your account ran out of money; (2) you hadn't set up mobile roaming through CM and when they started getting calls/SMS trying to connect to their system from abroad, they locked your account-kind of like how western banks will lock your credit card if its trying to be used from outside your home country; (3) both of the above.

If you're going to be traveling outside the mothership, and plan on trying to use your mobile and/or Chinese bank credit/ATM card, contact both your mobile carrier and Chinese bank(s) prior to climbing aboard the exit vehicle.

Also don't forget to notify your FAO before you leave and after you return so your Residence Permit status stays updated in the PSB. The PSB will know when you have left, but by their rule, they have to be notified that you have returned. That's your FAOs job.
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad. - B. O'Driscoll.
TIC is knowing that, in China, your fruit salad WILL come with cherry tomatoes AND all slathered in mayo. - old34.

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cruisemonkey

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Re: Chinese SIM, goes out of Chinese airspace, gets cancelled automatically?
« Reply #2 on: December 20, 2016, 10:49:04 AM »
I have a China Mobile sim and always take my phone out of the country when I go on vacation. Never had a problem except one time it ran out of money while I was gone. I came back into China at PVG on a changed flight and needed to phone the driver picking me up at CGO with new flight information... but China Telecom has a monopoly at PVG and I couldn't put money on my phone. I was forced to buy one of their sim cards.
The Koreans once gave me five minutes notice - I didn't know what to do with the extra time.

Re: Chinese SIM, goes out of Chinese airspace, gets cancelled automatically?
« Reply #3 on: December 20, 2016, 04:07:56 PM »
I'll be getting a cheap local SIM while in Oz. (Supermarkets there do short term deals that look decent.) So I won't be using my Chinese SIM outside. (I'm expecting both WhatsApp and Wechat will continue to function - neither of those depend on the SIM for their day-to-day operation, except for confirmation messages.) I just wasn't sure what would happen to the Chinese SIM service in situ. Past experience has been ambiguous.
when ur a roamin', do as the settled do o_0

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Escaped Lunatic

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Re: Chinese SIM, goes out of Chinese airspace, gets cancelled automatically?
« Reply #4 on: December 20, 2016, 05:59:14 PM »
My wife never has issues taking her China Mobile SIM in and out of the country.  Sometimes she adds a a local one in the second SIM slot, sometimes not.  There were never any problems.

I take mine with my, but always power down before leaving and use a different phone in the destination country.
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