traveling in china in oct.  want to know best ways to communicate to
u.s.   rent international telephone?  easy acess to internet?   phone
card?

Thanks for asking!

I've located several web pages that discuss travel communications
options available from China to the US. These are excerpts only (for
copyright reasons). Please see the full articles for more complete
information.


Mobile Telephones
----------------------------------------------------------------------

"China's mobile phone network, or Global Mobile Systems (GMS) network,
runs at 900MHz, which means that most European and Oceanic mobile GMS
phones will work in China. Some phones will require the purchase of a
new SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) or Smart card before they can be
used; try electronics stores in major cities like Beijing and
Guangzhou. Many North American (particularly US) phones will not work,
but several mobile service providers rent out compatible phones;
contact your service provider for more information. Due to the
popularity of mobile phones in China, it's not possible to rent a
phone once there; phones can be purchased for as little as Y800.
Registering your phone numbers costs an additional Y100. The cheapest
plans offer local calls at Y0.2 per minute and international calls at
Y2.5 per minute. For more information, contact China Mobile (in China,
1860)."

Calling Within China
http://www.letsgo.com/CHI/02-Essentials-297

Chinese Mobile Phones | International Direct Dial $1.10/Minute
http://www.telestial.com/products/china_sim_print.htm


Calling Home from China
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Apparently it pays to bring an International Calling Card from home:

"A calling card is probably your cheapest bet. Calls are billed
collect or to your account. You can frequently call collect without
even possessing a company's calling card just by calling their access
number and following the instructions."

and

"You can usually also make direct international calls from pay phones,
but if you aren't using a calling card, you'll find that the time on
your [prepaid] phone card disappears at an alarming rate.

Calling Home
http://www.letsgo.com/CHI/02-Essentials-295


Keeping in Touch by Email and Internet
----------------------------------------------------------------------

"For the most convenient public Internet access venues, try China
Telecom (zhõngguó diánxìn; Ö²dúµç²Å) or China Post offices,
cybercafes, university campus computer rooms, libraries, and the
business centers of upmarket hotels."

and

"Just as in the rest of the world Internet services are now widely
available in China. You will be able find access to it in most major
cities, though at times it can be very slow to download. Business
centers in 4 and 5 star hotels provide an Internet service for
visitors and you can also find cyber cafes in many cities. One of the
best places to look out for these is near to the universities."

Internet in China
http://www.letsgo.com/CHI/02-Essentials-304
http://www.warriortours.com/essential/when/post.htm




Answer Strategy
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Google Search Terms: china keeping +in touch telephone


I hope you find this information helpful!

Best regards,

larre-ga

Hi I can also provide some other information for you.
Regarding Mobile: Major cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen
etc) have GSM as well as CDMA. There are different types of plans, and
they are run off of Sim cards. Fairly easy to sign up for a temp card
while you are here, though it would be expensive for long distance.
IP Cards are cheap and widely available, often at huge discounts. It
can be as low as 40RMB for 100RMB worth of calling time, but the
quality of networks and access varies. Check around first.
ADSL is widespread, there are high end bangs in most cities which have
mics; check university districts with foreign students.
Hope this helps.