How to top up your mobile in China

I thought I'd write a quick post for anyone who wants to know how to top up their mobile phone in China because today was the first time I managed to!

This is for China Mobile which is much easier to top up than China Unicom so a tip is try to get a China Mobile simcard if possible. All convenience stores will have China Mobile vouchers to top up either 50RMB or 100RMB.

A slip of paper is given to you and it is a little misleading as usually China Mobile contacts you via a number 10086 but if you see the slip of paper you need to call the number circled in red:

There is an option to hear the service in English. You want to choose the option to make an "advance payment" and you can choose this mobile number or another one. You are asked to type in the code which you reveal on the left hand side and have to enter this long long number. You will get a confirmation if you are successful and which amount has been added.

For China Unicom I found the only place I could top it up was by going to a hotel! But it is basically the same system but I'm unsure if there is an English service as the hotel staff are kind enough to help me out.

I'm using my unlocked iPhone this time but I'm finding internet usage to be rather costly. Also I cannot get a 3G signal...

Anyway, it is pretty easy to top up although I know just before I left in June I struggled with my friend to do this and it was a kind stranger who helped us out in the end ^^