Should I buy a local SIM at the airport instead of a travel eSIM?

What a local SIM gives you that an eSIM cannot: a mainland +86 number. A few services still send verification codes only to Chinese numbers; which ones changes fast, and many now accept foreign numbers and passports — check the specific apps on your itinerary rather than assuming. If none of them need it, a travel eSIM installed at home is simpler — no registration, working the moment you land, and usually unfiltered.

What it costs you: a mainland SIM is a mainland connection, so Google, Gmail, Maps, WhatsApp and Instagram are blocked unless you use a VPN — set up before arrival, as many VPN sites and app-store pages are unreachable from inside, and no VPN is guaranteed to work. Real-name registration is law (MIIT Decree No. 25, 2013): you go in person with your original passport to a carrier's own store that serves foreigners, and staff check the document; no proxies. Whether a face check is done follows the carrier's own process — travellers report one, but it is not in the decree.

Where to buy: Beijing is the city with official guidance — the city government lists China Unicom and China Mobile counters at Capital and Daxing airports with opening hours, plus downtown stores. Other airports (Shanghai Pudong/Hongqiao, Guangzhou Baiyun) have counters per traveller guides, but we found no official listing of locations, hours or English service; late-night availability at Pudong is a recurring complaint. Pricing: Trip.com's April 2026 example for China Unicom was about ¥200 for 20 GB and 30 minutes over 30 days at the airport — an example, not a list price; downtown stores may give more data for the same money. Ask for national rather than province-only data.

A mainland eSIM is not a realistic option for a short visit: carriers issue eSIMs only to specific mainland-model phones after an in-store ID check, and we found no carrier-published short-stay tourist eSIM plan.

The hybrid many travellers use: travel eSIM for data, local SIM in the second slot with data switched off, purely to receive +86 SMS codes.

Prices above come from press and vendor guides — neither China Unicom nor China Mobile publishes an English tourist-plan page we could find; the counter's price list is the answer.