Travel

Public mobile user going to China for extended time.

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  • Aug 17th, 2025 6:32 pm
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Apr 29, 2018
4721 posts
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Vancouver
Raggie wrote: I have a Pixel 7. Would that work on my phone and how would I set that up?
Android has many apps for this from what I know. Am on iOS, so no real experience with them though

iOS has it built in
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Nov 14, 2003
7532 posts
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BC
Raggie wrote: Just want to understand this more clearly...

I have Public Mobile that will not work in China.

I could subscribe to Freedom Mobile for a month, that will allow me a new phone number (so I don't lose my PM account) that I can use in China - on WeChat, AliPay, DiDi App, and that will allow me to receive SMS verifications, authenticate, etc.?

Just curious if I purchase a China travel sim card that included a phone number so I can receive sms, would I get banned if I tried to sign up on WeChat or AliPay with this temporary number?
I think Freedom Mobile would be the simplest solution. A Chinese number would also definitely work. You could get a Freedom plan with roaming data and that would also solve the issue with the Great Firewall. A Chinese number might be good if some apps won't send codes to foreign numbers but it's a lot of effort for the usage. I don't think WeChat or Alipay would ban you for changing numbers.
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Jul 29, 2005
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Mississauga
crystallight wrote: When travelling and need 2FA texts, can't you just go to messages.google.com as long as you have data/wifi?
How would this work if I can't use my phone number overseas?
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Dec 27, 2011
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Raggie wrote: How would this work if I can't use my phone number overseas?
I'm not sure how it actually works but I figure since it's a web interface, you'd still get the 2FA message when you go to that site. The text just won't go to your normal messaging app.

I've never actually tried this so maybe I'm completely wrong.

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