I've recently moved from Jiangsu to Kunming and my phone service got blocked during the train ride. I've tried going to multiple stores but they all say that only Jiangsu can fix the problem then when I get them to call we get the runaround - requests to email a dead inbox, promises to call back which don't happen etc.

According to the internet I just need to dial 10010 and press option 9 but that option doesn't exist any more. Is there an alternative number or menu sequence I need to go through. I know that option 8 then 0 is the department I need to go to but I can't translate over the phone.

I'm here to learn Chinese so might just get my teacher to help me when I start classes next week but i'd rather get this solved sooner.

If you go by one of the stores again, you might ask them if there's a China Mobile corporate account on WeChat that they can contact. Things increasingly get done via WeChat here these days, while voicemail and email inboxes are sometimes left unattended. Also, WeChat's format makes it more difficult to give someone the runaround.

Yes I tried adding the WeChat account but to progress past the bot and speak to a person you have to verify your number and I can't receive SMS' at the moment.

I've now decided to just go with China Mobile. Does anybody know if I will have any problems porting the number to them or should I just get a fresh number?

For me (and others in same situation) biggest issue with China Mobile is that in my foreign bought mobile phone their service cannot give 4G, so basically no internet.

Therefore China Unicom is the only option for me, other than lugging around a second device with China Mobile card and using it as portable hotspot. This I anyway have to do in places where China Unicom does not have coverage.

Luckily I'm using a Xiaomi phone so all good there. I've since confirmed that my particular problem is also a problem for locals and they solve it by just getting a new number like I have. Why they appear happy with this solution is beyond me.

Anyway when I went to China mobile I went to a store that can't process passports but the clerk personally drove me to the correct store so the customer service was like night and day!

I was in my favorite go-to phone & laptop repair store yesterday and casually asked the price of a used iPhone 6S 64GB model. The store owner quoted CNY 1k - so now I have a spare iPhone 6s 64GB with no SIM card....impulse buy...ouch. The owner threw in a new battery and screen protector - so all in all - fantastic deal.

I'll probably trade it to my daughter for her slowly dying iPhone 6...