Google, WhatsApp, Maps and Instagram — no VPN, no local SIM queue at the airport, no discovering at baggage claim that half your phone is blocked. One eSIM also covers Japan and South Korea, because almost nobody visits China alone.
See China packs — from $12.99And why this kind of eSIM doesn't.
China's internet filtering (the "Great Firewall") applies to traffic on Chinese domestic networks. Buy a local SIM at the Shanghai airport and you're on one of those networks — which means no Google Maps, no WhatsApp, no Instagram, no Gmail, unless you also fight with a VPN the whole trip. This is the airport-SIM trap, and it catches people every day.
A travel eSIM like ours works differently: your data rides international carrier roaming, the same way your home carrier's roaming does. Traffic breaks out to the internet outside China's filtering, so the apps you actually navigate and communicate with behave exactly like they do at home. No VPN to install, configure, or watch die mid-trip.
The honest trade-off: international routing adds a little latency versus a domestic SIM. For maps, messaging, photos, translation and video calls you won't care. If your trip's main activity is competitive gaming, buy the local SIM and our sympathy.
Google Search & Maps, Gmail, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, iMessage, banking apps, translation apps. If it works at home, it works here.
The eSIM is data-only, running as a second line. Calls and bank 2FA texts still reach your real number — keep your main line's data roaming off.
Any iPhone XS or newer and most Androids from the last 5 years support eSIM, but carrier-locked phones can't. If yours turns out not to support it, full refund.
Tokyo → Shanghai → Seoul without touching your settings at a single border.
Most Asia itineraries that include China also include Japan or Korea. Separate SIMs for each country means three purchases, three installs, and a settings scramble at every border. The Japan · China · Korea Crew Pack is one eSIM with one data pool across all three — install once at home, switch it on when you land, and forget about it for 30 days.
| Size | Price (USD) | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| 3GB | $12.99 | Short trips, light use — maps and messages |
| 5GB | $16.99 | 1–2 weeks of maps, WhatsApp, photos, translation |
| 10GB | $21.99 | Heavy navigation, video calls, some streaming |
| 20GB | $34.99 | Long trips, hotspotting a laptop, no rationing |
Get the Japan · China · Korea pack
Traveling as a group? One checkout covers everyone — you get a link, each person claims their own QR code. That's the whole CrewRoam thing.
No. The eSIM's data routes through international carrier partners rather than a Chinese domestic ISP, so the usual blocks on Google, WhatsApp, Instagram and Gmail don't apply. Nothing to install, nothing to switch on.
Google Search, Gmail, Google Maps, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and iMessage all work as normal, along with banking apps and 2FA texts to your regular number. Anything that works at home works on the eSIM's data.
Yes — the Japan · China · Korea Crew Pack is one eSIM with one data pool across all three countries, so a Tokyo–Shanghai–Seoul trip needs nothing at the borders. It's valid for 30 days from first connection.
The Japan · China · Korea pack covers China mainland. Hong Kong sits outside the Great Firewall, so any ordinary travel eSIM works there — if your trip includes Hong Kong, reply to your order email or contact us and we'll point you at the right pack honestly.
Maps, messaging, translation and posting a few photos uses roughly 300–500MB a day. 5GB comfortably covers a one-to-two-week trip; take 10GB if you'll stream video, hotspot a laptop or navigate all day, every day.
Yes. The eSIM is data-only and runs as a second line. Your real number stays active on your main SIM, so incoming calls and bank 2FA texts still reach you — just leave your main line's data roaming off so it can't bill you.
🏰 Europe next? One eSIM covers 30+ European countries the same way. ⚓ Cruising? EveryPort matches an eSIM to every port on your itinerary.