TL;DR - Yes! Google Fi works quite well in China and it’s better than T-Mobile’s free service they offer. Let me explain.
Recently I went to Guangzhou, China for two weeks, which is about 2 hours away from Hong Kong. Google Fi uses China Mobile → Make sure roaming is turned ON when you land. (or else you’ll waste 1+ hour with Google Fi support on Wifi like me in France)
Most of the time when I was in Guangzhou I had LTE service. Google Fi completely circumvents the Great Firewall. I’m not sure how but all your normal apps in the US work. (ie. YouTube, Signal, Gmail etc.)
Obviously if you connect to wifi there, you’ll need a VPN and Google’s VPN won’t work. I recommend using Astrill VPN, though they charged $30 for one month, which is ludicrous.
I did notice that I lost service when I went outside of Guangzhou. It switched to “E” and was pretty useless until I got back within the range of Guangzhou again. I only recommend doing this if you’re with locals, otherwise you should stay in major cities.
In short the performance was amazing. Often Baidu Maps wouldn’t work well on my partners free T-Mobile service, so I’d give them Baidu Maps on my phone. I used Alipay everywhere thanks to Google Fi and I hope they’re able to maintain this level of service in the future.
That said, I used data a lot and my bill was quite expensive for the past month - about $86 when normally I’m in the $40-$50 range but I thought their service was excellent, so I’m fine with it as a one off fee. I hope this post is useful for anyone else who’s traveling to China.
I had to get in contact with Fi support through astrill VPN. Make sure you switch your service to unlimited international before you leave the states.
Turn off your astrill vpn. Screenshot this post if you need to.
Go to Google Fi app. Privacy and security make sure to turn on “Protect Your Online Activity”
It will take a while, when it finishes go to your VPN settings you will see Google Fi VPN pop up. You will see two VPNs. Google VPN and Google Fi are different. I had no idea.
Now probably going to have to wait for 10 mins to 20 mins. For things to configure. You should be good. I only waited 5 mins until I saw Google Fi VPN popup.
Preferred network change from 5G to LTE. This is for other cities.
In Internet phone settings Choose Network. uncheck automatically select network. Underneath Choose network. Choose China Unicom (Forbidden)
I was able to connect. Was able to connect through WeChat to contact my wife incase I was lost.
Reddit. Google Apps all work. Was able to get Google translate a few things for me.
Hope this helps. Don’t feel bad that you had to pay for Astrill VPN you can still use it for your Laptop or Macbook.
You mentioned you used Alipay. I’m trying to set that up for an upcoming trip. I was able to link it to my credit card and got it to display a barcode. Did the credit card linked qr code work everywhere? Or do you need to load like a cash balance on it?
Worked seamlessly for me end October early November 2024 in Beijing. “Flexible” plan not Unlimited. Did not have to contact support or anything - it just worked for all Google services that I tried while on phone data. Maps, Gmail, Keep, Messages, Calendar, Search, Translate…
Yup other carriers work, though T-Mobile in particular tries to offer a crappy free service and have their customers pay $50 or so to get Google Fi like speeds.
And yeah I’m not sure why it switched to “E” over “LTE” but the famous place I went to literally didn’t have any tourists other than native Chinese. I forgot the name but it had a lot of water with boats you ride around and a cave with lights. That place is known for their noodles as well.
Alipay works everywhere, no need to load anything like a prepaid card.
That said, I made sure my credit card company was notified that I was traveling and once I had a transaction decline, so I’d make sure you have some chinese yuan on hand just in case.
Hard to find a difinitive answer that isn’t years old…I just contacted Fi to confirm it would work in Beijing. The best they would give me was a definite “maybe”.
Really hoping Lens Translate works, or this is going to be a long trip.
Fantastic thanks. I’ve not been to China since pre pandemic and used cash everywhere back then. I tried to set up WeChat pay but it was a giant pain in the ass.
Can you confirm if Alipay charges any additional on top of any FX fee charged by the credit card?
I was looking to do the same for my upcoming trip to China but read somewhere that Alipay does charge a fee, for transaction over some very small amount.