Hi there,

I am off to china for 3 months, and of course will be turning off all data connection on my iPad so I don't get a humongous Telstra bill when I get back to Australia,

All u savvy china people out there, is there a sim I can get in china so I can be connected with my iPad - I know I don't have to be connected to study skritter, but to be able to check emails would just be great, and also I want to make sure that I can update to the latest skritter that lets u study by list!!!

Is there a sim that is not too expensive, what do I ask for etc. I am in kunming for first 2 months if that makes a difference to sims available...

Cheers,
Donna

I don't know about sims for the iPad, but free wifi is easy to find so long as you're not living out in the sticks.

I don't have an iPad, so I've never tried, but I always see advertisements at China Unicom中国联通 when I go to pay my monthly internet bill. They are generally all over the place, so just walk into one and I'm sure they'll find a plan that suits your budget. They should even be able to help you set it up.

I agree with Drone. I think you could easily get by using wifi when it's available. If the place you're staying only has a cable connection you could purchase a cheap travel size wireless router. If you're outside in a shop or restaurant and see a password on it always ask. Usually they are more than happy to hand out the password. The most common passwords I see are "12345678" or a password identical to the wireless name.

Malaili is right. My home internet with Unicom was the same, it always starts at the beginning of the month. However being China nothing is out of the realm of negotiation. I was ready for my internet about 10 days before the new month. A short talk later and I had the 10 days free and just paid for the next month.

For things like rent and "most" hotels you'll need a physical passport. I've signed up for internet packages in three different places in China and they've never photocopied my stuff. They request your passport because they want the number to type into the computer. If you have the number on hand you shouldn't need to take it with you. Ideally bring it with you, but if you're like me you often forget the one thing you meant to bring haha.