About this site
A plain guide to getting your phone working in China, one network at a time.
Why this site exists
Most advice about China’s internet is either years old or written by someone selling you something, and it rarely tells you which network it was true on. The same app can work on a roaming eSIM and fail on hotel Wi-Fi, so a plain “yes” or “no” isn’t much use. Visitors need the answer for each network, with a date.
What’s here now
We’re starting with what visitors need first: which apps work, how to get online, eSIMs, SIM cards and maps. Payments and getting around will follow, with the same approach.
We’re at an early stage. Tests from inside China haven’t started yet, so what you’ll read today is drawn from public reports and labelled that way. Here’s how the tests will work.
How the site makes money
Through affiliate commissions on eSIMs, once those programmes are in place. If you buy through a link, we may earn a commission, at no cost to you. The affiliate disclosure explains how this works and what we won’t do for money.
Photos
Photographs come from Wikimedia Commons under their own licences, cropped for the layout. Each page’s footer credits the photos used on it, and links to the original and its licence.
Contact
Write to hello@doesitworkinchina.com. If you’ve found something that’s out of date, tell us your network, city and date, and we’ll check it.