If you are planning to travel to China for business or pleasure anytime soon, and you want to use your iPhone while you are there, you’ll need to take steps to prepare ahead of time for using your iPhone overseas. The first thing you will need to do when you arrive in China is to get yourself a Chinese SIM card. Without a SIM card, you will be unable to use your iPhone as anything more than an iPod Touch. To obtain such a SIM card, just find your nearest China Unicom (Zhōngguó Liántōng, 中国联通) outlet and get their SIM card with a monthly plan. Unicom offers 3G data connections, but if you don’t think you’ll need 3G while you’re there, China Mobile (Zhōngguó Yídòng Tōngxìn, 中国移动通信) offers SIM cards with cheaper data plans and has the added reputation of better signals in most of the big cities.
No matter what SIM card you get, make sure it’s the right size if you have an iPhone 4, as the iPhone 4 and 4S both require micro-SIM sized cards. Alternately, you can Google how to cut down a standard SIM card to fit a micro-SIM slot.
If your phone is locked, none of this will work until it is jailbroken, and then unlocked. You can do this yourself by reading up on the Web. Otherwise, you can easily go to any electronics market in China to have your iPhone jailbroken and unlocked for you for a fee. Be aware that Apple does not support unlocking your phone, and doing so may void your warranty.
These are just some of the steps you can take to get your iPhone ready for a trip with you to China. Once you have all of that done, start looking for apps that will be useful to you while you are there. There are plenty of apps that can help you recognize Chinese characters (useful in translating information on signs) and find good places to dine, or where to catch public transportation.
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