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Your phone number is your identity
Chinese daily life is keyed to a mobile number, and that number is registered against a 身份证, the national ID card. One number signs you in to payments, food delivery, train tickets, hospital appointments and government services, so getting a Chinese SIM is the first practical step of living there — ahead of the bank account. Foreigners register a passport instead. Real-name registration is the rule rather than the exception: train tickets, accounts and posting online all attach to a verified identity, and anonymous versions of those things mostly do not exist.