Chinese Phone Number: Format, Examples, and How to Get One

A Chinese mobile number has eleven digits, always starts with a 1, and gets read aloud with a word for one that isn’t the usual word for one.

That last part confuses almost everyone the first time a supplier or a new friend reads their number to you. The rest is easier than it looks, from reading a Chinese number to calling it and getting one of your own.

What Does a Chinese Phone Number Look Like?

A Chinese mobile number is 11 digits long and starts with 1. The country code is +86. Written out for someone abroad, it looks like this:

+86 1XX XXXX XXXX

Chinese speakers usually group the digits 3-4-4, the same way you see it above. You’ll also see it written as one unbroken string of eleven digits on business cards and delivery forms.

The first three digits still hint at which carrier first issued the number: China Mobile, China Unicom, or China Telecom. People can now keep their number when they switch, though, so the prefix no longer reliably tells you who runs it today.

How Many Digits Is a Chinese Phone Number?

Mobile numbers have 11 digits. Landlines are different. They start with an area code, then a local number of 7 or 8 digits:

Notice the 0 at the front of every area code. It’s only for calls inside China. From abroad, you drop it.

A few short numbers are worth saving before a trip: 110 for police, 120 for an ambulance, 119 for fire, and 122 for traffic accidents. The one most visitors never hear about is 12345, the local government hotline for non-emergency questions and complaints, from transport problems to residence paperwork. Some cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, offer help in English and other languages.

How to Call a Chinese Phone Number

From a mobile phone anywhere in the world, the easiest way is the plus sign: type +86, then the number. For a landline, leave off the 0 in the area code.

From a landline, swap the plus sign for your country’s exit code:

• From the US or Canada: 011 86, then the number
• From the UK and most of Europe: 00 86, then the number
• From Australia: 0011 86, then the number

Calling out of China works the same way in reverse. The exit code from mainland China is 00.

When someone in China picks up, the first thing you’ll hear is usually wei (喂), the phone version of hello. Shouted at a person across a room, the same word can sound rude, one of several small traps when you address people in Chinese.

How to Read a Chinese Phone Number Out Loud

Now for that twist. In phone numbers, most people say yao (幺) for 1, not the usual yi (一).

The reason is practical. Over a crackly line, yi and qi (七, seven) sound close enough to cause mix-ups. Yao doesn’t sound like anything else. You’ll hear it in room numbers, bus routes, and flight numbers too, so 110 comes out as yao yao ling.

It’s only for reading digits one by one, though. The number eleven is still shiyi (十一), never shiyao.

So a number starting 138 sounds like yao san ba. If the rest of the digits slow you down, brush up on Chinese numbers first, then practice reading your own number aloud in groups of 3-4-4.

And yes, the digits themselves carry weight. A number packed with 8s is prized, and one full of 4s is quietly avoided, because four sounds close to the word for death. It’s lucky numbers logic at work, and carriers often tie the prettiest ones, called lianghao (靓号, pretty numbers), to pricier plans or long contracts.

Do You Need a Chinese Phone Number?

For a short trip, often not. Several big apps now accept foreign numbers:

• WeChat lets you sign up with your home number, though new accounts sometimes need an existing user to help verify you.
• Alipay works with a foreign number and a linked international card.
• 12306, the official train-booking platform, accepts foreign numbers with a passport.
• Xiaohongshu, also called RedNote, accepts many foreign numbers, though it varies by country.

Douyin is stricter. Foreign numbers often don’t make it through sign-up, and full verification has required Chinese ID documents, not a passport.

Note: Sign-up rules for Chinese apps change often, so if one of these doesn’t work, check the app’s own sign-up screen for the latest options.

A Chinese number starts to matter once you live, study, or work in China, because there it’s much more than a way to call you. It works as your login, your delivery contact, and your password reset, all at once. Chinese bank accounts, many delivery and shopping apps, and a lot of everyday verification codes expect a +86 number.

How to Get a Chinese Phone Number

The reliable way is to buy a SIM card in China with your passport. Mobile numbers in mainland China have to be registered to a real identity, so you’ll need ID to activate one.

You can do this at a counter in the arrivals hall of many major airports, or at a larger China Mobile, China Unicom, or China Telecom store in the city. Smaller branches can’t always register a foreign passport. Staff scan your passport, take a photo, and set up the plan. Airport counters are used to foreign visitors, while city stores often have cheaper plans.

A few things help:

• Bring your original passport. Even when part of the activation happens online, you’ll need the real thing.
• Check that your phone is unlocked, or a Chinese SIM won’t work in it. Dual SIM or eSIM support lets you keep your home number running too.

One surprise to watch for: your new number may not be new. Carriers recycle cancelled numbers, so an app might say your number is already registered. That’s not a faulty SIM.

All major carriers now offer a fix in their official apps, listed as yijian jiebang (一键解绑, one-tap unbind) or erci haoma huanxin (二次号码焕新, second-hand number refresh). It removes the previous owner’s links to WeChat, Alipay, Taobao, and many other apps, and store staff can help if the app is in Chinese only. For anything left over, use the app’s own recovery process.

Does a Travel eSIM Give You a Chinese Number?

Usually not. Most travel eSIMs sold for China are data-only, so you’re online from the moment you land but have no +86 number for Chinese text messages. That doesn’t make them useless. If data is all you need, a travel eSIM is often the easier option.

Many visitors use both: a travel eSIM for data from day one, and a local SIM if they end up needing a +86 number.

Can You Get a Free Chinese Phone Number for Verification?

You’ll find websites offering free or temporary Chinese numbers for receiving verification codes. They rarely work, and they can cost you the account you’re trying to create.

Those numbers are shared. Anyone can open the same page and read the same code, and platforms know it. Many simply reject them, and WeChat lists virtual numbers as one of the reasons it blocks accounts.

There’s a quieter risk too. When a temporary number gets recycled, whoever holds it next can request a login code for your account.

The better routes are the boring ones. Use your own home number where the app allows it, or get a real SIM in China with your passport.

How to Keep a Chinese Phone Number After You Leave

A Chinese number doesn’t wait for you forever. If it runs out of credit or goes unused, the carrier can suspend it and eventually give it to someone else. That can expose any account still tied to the old number, especially ones that send login or recovery codes by text.

You have two good options:

• Keep it alive. Ask the carrier for a low-cost plan meant for holding a number, called baohao (保号, keep the number), and set up automatic top-ups.
• Let it go cleanly. Before you leave, move WeChat, Alipay, any Chinese bank account, and the shopping, delivery, and ride-hailing apps you still use to a number you’ll keep. Take the Chinese number off account recovery wherever you can, then cancel it.

Either way, don’t just let it lapse with your accounts still attached.

Once the number is sorted, the rest of daily life gets easier, from ride-hailing to deliveries. If you’re sending a package to someone in China, you’ll need their number on the label, alongside a correctly written Chinese address.

Save this for later. You’ll want it the day an app asks for a +86 number. New to Stellar Chinese? I write about the small details that make China easier to navigate, the things you usually find out only after you need them. The newsletter sign-up is on this page.