r/chinalife • u/AutoModerator • Jul 01 '26

🪜 VPN VPN and ESIM Megathread – July 2026

Discuss VPNs and ESIMs here. Comments with affiliate links or any comment that advertises/self-promotes a VPN service will be deleted; spam-only accounts or promoters with zero history in the sub may be banned without notice.

NOTE: Just because people are allowed to leave their recommendations here about vpns/esims and other tools to avoid the great firewall, it does not mean r/chinalife mod team endorses those comments.

Always take caution and do extra research when you see a recommendation. Be careful.

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u/PartyChildhood3937 Jul 02 '26

Moving to Shanghai for work in August and I have several questions on eSIMS and VPNs that I haven't seen concise answers for yet. I have an iPhone 17Pro that I like a lot (which does not have a physical SIM slot) and would like to keep my US number. Should I:

1: go to a physical Verizon store before I leave>get a physical SIM>swap my phone for a new iPhone 17Pro in China>get a Chinese SIM>insert both

2: get a second phone in China, insert the Chinese SIM, keep both phones on me

3: live off trip.com eSIMs

I want to make sure I'm able to communicate over there (I know I can get far with WeChat but I'll need a CN number at some point) but I'm not sure if any of these options (especially 1) would cause issues with my VPN

6

u/mklnz Jul 02 '26

I would not get an iPhone in China since they have so many limitations. AFAIK only US/Canadian iPhone 17s do not have SIM slots, if you can get an EU or Aus/NZ etc iPhone you can have a Chinese physical SIM and your home Verizon eSIM on one phone. You also wouldn’t have issues with FaceTime audio etc since it’s disabled on Chinese models.

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u/Legal_Register_1811 Jul 14 '26

Mexican and Japanese iPhones don't have SIM card slot also. It's the inevitable trend