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Beijing Airport Air China Club has Wifi

August 25th, 2006 · 2 Comments · Beijing

It’s never clear in China where you’ll get Wifi access, but the Air China Club in the domestic terminal has free Wifi access. They also have about a dozen network taps but about half seem to be broken all the time. Also the airport has real time arrival information which is pretty valuable if you live in China.

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2 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Kelly Mulcahy // Mar 28, 2008 at 8:50

    Dear Tong Family,
    I am traveling to China for the first time in June. My son will need to call his father every evening. I read your notes on phones but am not that computer/phone savvy. I have a cell phone with At and T as the carrier. Will be staying in nice hotels while in China. Will NOT have a computer with me. I called AT and T and they wnat 1.99 per minute. YIkes! What do you suggest…I sincerely appreciate your time in this regard. I am lost.
    Kelly

  • 2 Rich // Mar 28, 2008 at 13:33

    No problem Kelly, here is what you need to do:

    1. Call AT&T and ask for that phone to be unlocked so you can put another SIM in it from another carrier. They will do this if you ask politely and are a good customer. They will have you go through some strange instructions, but at the end, you will be able to put a SIM card into anything
    2. When get to a Chinese hotel, ask them for a SIM card. The good hotels will have Sim cards in the business center, they will sell you one for about US$25. Stick the Sim into your phone. Usually you take the battery off and put it in there. Try it first at home of course as the Sim is kind of delicate.
    3. When you put the sim in, your phone will now have a Chinese phone number. Text something to your son (assuming he has a mobile phone). You enter +12065551212 to get to the US. Hold the 0 key down for a long time and it becomes a plus sign. This is what tells the phone you are dialing overseas. The equivalent of dialing 011 on a landline.
    4. Make sure he has an international calling plan. Globalphone (google it) has a good one. It is $0.15/minute to call China. or if your son is using a cell phone from say AT&T, they have a calling plan where for $5/month, you can call for $0.15/minute to China.
    5. When you want to talk. Don’t call, but text him. He should then call you. It is much cheaper to call from the US to China than vice versa.
    1. If you must call, then also ask the business center for an international prepaid card. They will have a magic number that you can dial into china that will give you access to the US.

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