How to find places with Wi-Fi and electricity in China?
- By
- Aparna Patel
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- 28 Jul, 2023
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If I understand the question, the needs are:
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Wi-Fi in relatively urban places where language and/or no Wi-Fi are the barrier
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Electricity in relatively urban places where language and/or no electricity is the barrier
Also, I’m assuming two things here:
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You are going to be in China a while
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You have a smart phone or netbook with you and it functions correctly.
Then:
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You could buy a Mifi device (just ask for Mifi, there’s no Chinese name for it, really) This is basically like a portable Wi-Fi router used by the major telecoms in China. You pay for a year of service and it divides out to a monthly limitation. Great for traveling.
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You could also buy an external battery for your devices. I have one for my iPhone. The Chinese for that is “备用iPhone电池” (Bèiyòng iPhone diànchí). Those two words are 备用 (“spare”) and 电池 (“battery”) so even if you went into a shop with any device and said those four words, they’d be able to sort you out.
As for language:
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“Do you have Wi-Fi?” – 你有无线网络吗？(Nǐ yǒu wúxiàn wǎngluò ma?)
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“Do you have a plug where I could plug in my phone?” 你们这里有插座可以插我的手机吗？(Nǐmen zhè li yǒu chāzuò kěyǐ chā wǒ de shǒujī ma?)
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“Do you have a plug where I could plug in my laptop?” 你们这里有插座可以插我的手提电脑吗？(Nǐmen zhè li yǒu chāzuò kěyǐ chā wǒ de shǒutí diànnǎo ma?)
Lastly, if you are uncomfortable with your pronunciation, just print these phrases out and present them to the waiter/waitress/host wherever you are. Just preface it with “Sorry to bother you” “不好意思麻烦你!” (bù hǎo yì si má fan nǐ) just to be polite.
I would recommend you to get someone to write down for you how to say the proper question in Chinese, print it out and show it to people. That would bridge the language gap.
From my perspective your real issue is that you do not only need a power outlet, but a chair next to it and a permission to sit there for a while and work. If you would have a working battery, you could just ask in a restaurant if they can plug it in somewhere for you while you eat. This is quite common and I know people will do that. Here again, a printed sign will get you very far.
Now regarding that battery: You figured already out that you wont get one. So here it comes:
Since you do not want to travel with a smartphone, it might make more sense for you to travel with one of those ultra-portable Android devices (i.e. a smartphone without a SIM Card or a tablet). They are VERY cheap, easy to replace and at least a good emergency backup. No monthly fees either! Looking at the long timespan that you stay on the road I would really recommend you to have some sort of backup like that. Yes, I know a laptop does more than android (I also travel with a laptop for my photos, and cannot rely on a smartphone), but as you can see probably all around you is that smartphone replacement batteries are MUCH easier to get than for a laptop. And the price for a cheap smartphone without a contract, specially in China is very low.
In Hong Kong, you can charge cellphones in 7/11 convenience stores. In Japan you can buy battery-connectors to charge them, and there are solar panel chargers available too that you can stick on your backpack and charge while on the road.
So this is maybe not the answer you want to hear, but in your situation, that’s what I would do. The world is unfortunately not very forthcoming to someone with a power plug looking for a socket and a chair next to it.
Credit:stackoverflow.com‘