Hi Max, much appreciated with the video. Very helpful. Planning to visit beijing, china, next month for a layover. Thinking to take Airalo for esim. One important question, should I pick the local esim for china or regional esim? After beijing, flying to thailand. Will the local and regional esim work the same for china?
Yes! I used three HK from Mobimatter and worked great every time. You have every service that is available in HK, even while being in Mainland China. So that's all of the important ones (Google + Meta owned ones), but there are some services you'd additionally need a VPN for such as ChatGPT as it's blocked in HK.
Happy to hear that. Ah nice, sounds like a fun trip! Especially with your travel itinerary, a mobimatter sim would be perfect as they are great for multi country esims. They even have china + hk + macau Esims 🙂
@@DaniGibson-g1w Nope, that's the beauty. Just 5 weeks ago I went to China using three hk as a provider via Mobimatter and it worked great. Actually, most VPNs you're thinking about wouldn't work with a normal SIM or Hotel Wi-Fi anyway, as they're blocked in China. With the E-SIM from HK you can use NordVPN etc. - but Google, Facebook and all the western services are only blocked in Mainland China, not in Hong Kong.
Hey, I hope someone can help here! I lived in China before, but got a "proper" SIM for that time. If you're looking for a Chinese number in order to use Taxis Apps etc, I found that HK numbers also worked. So I could use GaoDe Taxis with three hk via Mobimatter.
Hi Max, your video will be very helpful for me! One question, using these eSIMs that you mentioned, is it necessary to use a VPN to access whatsapp, instagram, youtube and so on?
Hey! Mobimatter works 100%. I used it the last 4 times I went to china including just now in September. It's actually better than a VPN as you can't just use NordVPN or some well-known commercial VPN in China. They are blocked as well. On Mobimatter there is this provider called three hk so you actually get a Hong Kong based esim which is not affected by the chiense geoblocks.
There are some services being blocked in Hong Kong as well (like ChatGPT) so for work related stuff I gave my laptop a hotspot and then connected to Singapore using NordVPN.
Ah, and I even got a phone number attached to the esim so I added it to the taxi apps (they only take Chinese or HK phone numbers) and could actually use GaoDe 高德 with it.
Thank you very much for the explanation Max, I’m gonna buy a esim from Mobimatter. I usually use the Airalo in my international trips, does it work well too?
Hi Max, much appreciated with the video. Very helpful. Planning to visit beijing, china, next month for a layover. Thinking to take Airalo for esim. One important question, should I pick the local esim for china or regional esim? After beijing, flying to thailand. Will the local and regional esim work the same for china?
Flying to Guangzhou next month for family vacation 15 days… which eSIM will you recommend? Might include Macau too. Thanks
Best is to just compare the prices on the service I mentioned. A comment here could age like milk. Better check the currently available deals.
Hii Max, what about china great firewall? does these esims pass it?
Yes! I used three HK from Mobimatter and worked great every time. You have every service that is available in HK, even while being in Mainland China. So that's all of the important ones (Google + Meta owned ones), but there are some services you'd additionally need a VPN for such as ChatGPT as it's blocked in HK.
Hi Max. Very helpful video. For 14 days in HK Guilin and Macau would you recommend Maya, MobiMatter or Airalo? I assume they will not rquire a VPN
Happy to hear that. Ah nice, sounds like a fun trip! Especially with your travel itinerary, a mobimatter sim would be perfect as they are great for multi country esims. They even have china + hk + macau Esims 🙂
would appreciate it if you use my link - thanks!
@@Travelmaxing Thanks. Will use your link. Do I also need to get a vpn?
@@DaniGibson-g1w Nope, that's the beauty. Just 5 weeks ago I went to China using three hk as a provider via Mobimatter and it worked great. Actually, most VPNs you're thinking about wouldn't work with a normal SIM or Hotel Wi-Fi anyway, as they're blocked in China. With the E-SIM from HK you can use NordVPN etc. - but Google, Facebook and all the western services are only blocked in Mainland China, not in Hong Kong.
anyone know how to get a local China number with eSIM? or do u have to get a dumbphone with SIM slot?
Hey, I hope someone can help here! I lived in China before, but got a "proper" SIM for that time. If you're looking for a Chinese number in order to use Taxis Apps etc, I found that HK numbers also worked. So I could use GaoDe Taxis with three hk via Mobimatter.
Hi Max, your video will be very helpful for me! One question, using these eSIMs that you mentioned, is it necessary to use a VPN to access whatsapp, instagram, youtube and so on?
Hey! Mobimatter works 100%. I used it the last 4 times I went to china including just now in September. It's actually better than a VPN as you can't just use NordVPN or some well-known commercial VPN in China. They are blocked as well. On Mobimatter there is this provider called three hk so you actually get a Hong Kong based esim which is not affected by the chiense geoblocks.
There are some services being blocked in Hong Kong as well (like ChatGPT) so for work related stuff I gave my laptop a hotspot and then connected to Singapore using NordVPN.
Ah, and I even got a phone number attached to the esim so I added it to the taxi apps (they only take Chinese or HK phone numbers) and could actually use GaoDe 高德 with it.
Thank you very much for the explanation Max, I’m gonna buy a esim from Mobimatter. I usually use the Airalo in my international trips, does it work well too?
Hi Max, so if I purchase the three HK eSIM , do I still need to use a VPN in China for using WhatsApp ?