very vague question about chinese cell phones

HalberdBlue

I'm in China for the next 2 months so I bought a phone at a Chinese cell phone store. Its been working just fine. The only problem is that I have absoluely no idea what kind of plan I'm on. I never signed any contracts or did anything other than give them cash, so obviously its prepaid. I'm wondering if anyone has knowledge on how Chinese cell phones work? Like, is it controlled by the government so there is only one network and they all work essentially the same? I wasn't terribly worried about how it worked, but now my phone says "Emergency Only" on the front screen, so I'm guessing that I ran out of money (but I have no idea how the add money, if thats how these phones even work). I probably ran out of money because I sent/received probably two dozen international texts... but I have no idea how much money was on the phone to begin with. I WANT to say that the phone costed 300 RMB and the SIM card was 50 RMB, so maybe I had 50 RMB in my "account", but since everything they were saying was in Chinese I have no idea.

So, anybody have a clue as to what is going on? Sorry for the vagueness, its just difficult living in China not knowing any Chinese.

Cauld

According to my wife you're out of money and need to buy a phone card in order to add money to your account.

When in Thailand I used a similar cell phone system, though English was more common there. The first time what I did was walk into a store (a 7-11, actually) and show them my phone. They were nice enough to tell me which phone cards I could use (there are 2 major companies in China, apparently) and which denominations they came in. They were then nice enough to use my phone to put the money on the card for me. After I paid them, of course.

I believe in China you can add any amount to your prepaid phone. Go to the cellphone store and communicate to them you want to add money to the phone (I'd show them the display of the phone, then give them some money).

Also, where in China are you?

Edit: It may be a problem with your SIM card also. I guess you should go to an official cell phone store.

HalberdBlue

Alright thanks, I'll go do that today then. Luckily the store is right down the street from where I'm staying.

I'm staying in Shanghai.

Wheezer

You can also probably go to any Chinese shop selling cell phone recharge cards and they will help you charge it. You can buy a charge card if you know your company, but the shop will most likely know which company you're on by just looking at your number. In Shanghai they might even know a little English to help you out.

You can also just buy a new SIM card for 100RMB and change that to your phone, it's not SIM locked.