does those esim from shoppee or klook get blocked for google access too?

Thanks! Yeah looks like roaming is the safest bet. Plus compared to years back, roaming charges are not really that expensive anymore.

This post has been edited by lookie: Sep 12 2025, 12:09 AM

So my experience after 1 week in Southern China... (leaving some short notes here for my future self or anyone searching for similar answers)

1) connectivity - hotel/airport wifis are restrictive unless you are mostly consuming china-centric contents. roaming using local telco is fuss free but more expensive. buying esims from shopee is a hit and miss based on the online reviews. buying from more established platforms like Trip or Klook is a good compromise. Got my esim from Trip after my roaming package expired and accessibility/speed etc was similar.

2) payments - install Alipay and Wechat and link to a credit/debit card. I created a virtual card in Wise and linked to both without issue. Top-up TnG and Gxbank as backups (Gxbank has foreign spending cashback). In terms of exchange rates, my experience was Gxbank > Wise > TnG. I prefer the interface of Alipay (both widely accepted but Wechat slightly more so). You can even use the apps to fill up the arrival forms before disembarking to safe a bit of time.

3) Travelling around - install Amaps. Google maps is severely lacking and inaccurate in many instances. Amaps is great for navigating - walking, subways and can even directly hail a ride. Which btw hail riding is plentiful, cheap and convenient in China. (especially worthwhile if you have a group of 3 or 4 ppl). The only time I use Gmaps is to countercheck reviews and ratings. The Amaps ones are often overly high!

4) Other observations: Cantonese is surprisingly not as widely spoken in Gz and Szx as I had imagined. The younger one are mostly speak Mandarin. I was told by the locals that this is mainly due to less emphasis of the dialect in education and also influx of immigrants workers from other provinces. Attitude of the service workers though are rather neutral, I feel generally better than Hkgers.