If you are planning a trip to China, the “Great Firewall” and its internet rules are another step you need to be prepared for, especially if you are visiting China for the first time. Most of the services and platforms that we use on a daily basis like Google, YouTube and Instagram are not available in China by default.
A VPN service is one way to circumvent these regulations, but it will require a stable Wi-Fi connection and is still not exactly a plug-and-play solution. From our experience, most VPNs in China work for a limited time before being blocked.
There is one option that offers seamless connectivity and that is eSIM. The embedded SIM standard is now widely available on phones, tablets and smartwatches and choosing a travel eSIM plan before you travel is a quick process that not only saves you the hassle of dealing with China’s internet regulations but also gives you mobile data as soon as you get off the plane and saves you from overpaying for roaming charges.
We selected three eSIM providers for this comparison – Airallo and YesIM, which we’ve tested before, and a relatively new provider called Seely, which comes from the makers of NordVPN.
In the following lines, we will explore the key features of these eSIM providers with regards to pricing, validity, and their setup process, with the ultimate goal of helping you select the right plan for your next trip to China.
price comparison
Talking about pricing and validity, Saily and Airalo start with 1GB data plans that are valid for seven days while Yesim’s entry point is 3GB and this is also valid for a week. The tiers then move to 5GB, 10GB and 20GB with validity ranging from fifteen to thirty days. Yesim also has unlimited data plans but they are quite expensive starting at $36.30 for seven days and going up to $79.20 for a thirty-day plan.
| Sally | Airallo | yes me | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| price | Validity | price* | Validity | price* | Validity | |
| 1GB data | $4.49 | 7 Days | $5.00 | 7 Days | , | , |
| 3GB data | $9.99 | 30 days | $11.50 | 30 days | $14.30 | 7 Days |
| 5 GB data | $13.99 | 30 days | $16.50 | 30 days | $18.70 | 15 days |
| 10 GB data | $24.99 | 30 days | $28.00 | 30 days | $30.80 | 30 days |
| 20 GB data | $42.99 | 30 days | $49.00 | 30 days | $55.00 | 30 days |
| * before discount | ||||||
Sally offers the lowest prices for its plans without taking any discounts into account. The 1GB plan costs $4.49, the 3GB plan costs $9.99, and the 5GB option costs $13.99. The 10GB ($24.99) and 20GB ($42.99) plans are more affordable than Airalo and Yesim before applying the promo code.
Speaking of promo codes, you can also check our GSMArena Enter the code at checkout and get 10% off on Airalo plans and a flat $5 off on Yesim plans. With these savings, Yesim comes out on top with a total price of $9.30 for its 3GB plan and $13.70 for its 5GB plan.
Airalo has a clever estimate of approximately how much data you need based on your usage which also applies to the other two providers. Video streaming is the main data hog with SD content eating up around 1GB of data per hour while HD (4GB/h) and 4K (7GB/h) can drain your data package pretty quickly, so keep this in mind when choosing your data package.
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Estimation of data usage per hour
- Google Maps: 5MB/hour
- Social media: 50MB/h
- Internet browsing: 50MB/h
- Online gaming: 70+MB/h
- Music streaming: 100MB/h
- SD video: 1GB/h
- HD video: 4GB/h
- 4K video: 7GB/h
Setup and activation
The setup and activation processes for all three services are the same, but you should first make sure that your device supports eSIM. These are all the smartphones with eSIM support from our database. We also have a list of tablets here.
You can then go to Saily, Airalo or Yesim to choose a data plan specific to your use case. Once you’ve chosen and purchased your plan, you’ll see it inside your profile on the respective app. You’re then guided through a setup process to activate your eSIM profile that involves scanning a QR code sent to your account and following the instructions on your screen. You can also manually enter your activation code instead of scanning the QR code.
Setup process for Selly, Airallo and Yesim
It is recommended that you activate your travel eSIM before your trip and with a stable Wi-Fi connection, saving you the hassle of dealing with the process and poor airport Wi-Fi network upon arriving at your destination.
Once activated, your new eSIM profile should appear in the Cellular Data settings under eSIM. You will need to assign your new eSIM to mobile data and activate the roaming option that will allow it to automatically connect to the local network at your destination. If you encounter any problems during the setup and installation process, all three services have support chats to assist you.
All three services promise 5G speeds and support for personal hotspot. Apple users will also get access to iMessage and FaceTime over cellular.
It’s worth noting that Airallo and Yesim include a free VPN feature in their price, although as we mentioned earlier, you won’t actually need a VPN to bypass China’s internet regulations as all three providers’ eSIMs bypass restrictions thanks to their agreements with local carriers and various routing methods.
conclusion
If you are planning to visit China, a travel eSIM will help you bypass many local internet restrictions without having to deal with VPN providers or local telecoms. We compared the prices of three travel eSIM providers – Saily by NordVPN, Airalo and Yesim, and of the three, Saily offers the most economical price per GB of data.
Yesim has the advantage of offering unlimited data plans, although their prices are quite high.
Our promo code GSMArena You get 10% off on your first Airalo purchase and $5 off on Yesim plans.
