Don't Forget: Register Your Phone with Your Passport by October 15 or Have Your Service Cut Off

So we've reminded you before, but just in case you were looking for something really fun to do during the October holidays: make sure you've registered your phone number with your passport or shenfenzheng if you're Chinese. You won't need to do this if you already showed your passport when you bought your SIM card (and they filed a photocopy of it).

You can register your phone number at larger mobile provider centers depending on your provider. All you have to do is show up with your passport.

I went this weekend to the China Unicom at Beixinqiao (next to exit C), and it was fairly easy although it took close to 30 minutes. They photocopied my passport, entered the details into the system, and asked me to give them four phone numbers I had dialed to verify that I had been the person making calls from this SIM.

As we reported before, in reality, this is not a new policy. This real-name registration system was implemented by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in 2010. However, without effective law enforcement, illegal SIM cards were still sold. The ministry expect 95 percent of mobile users to be registered nationwide by the end of 2016.

More stories by this author here.

Email: margauxschreurs@truerun.com
Instagram: s.xuagram

Images: gettyimages.com