This guy has some useful tips on recharging – he’s right the english menu is not very clear at all.  I have had similar experiances with the kind shop ladies recharging for me – lol, it’s nice to be self sufficient.  Stay tuned for some more China Mobile tips.

1. dial 13800138000
2. 2  [for english]
3. 2 [to recharge]
4. 1# [to recharge current mobile]
5. 1 [to confirm]
6. enter PIN
7. # [to end]
8. All done…

‘Jeff’ has some useful tips (note: these only work if your account actually has credit)

There is a much easier way by utilizing SMS(text message). After obtaining the recharge PIN number, simply send a text message “CZ PIN number” to 10086. If done correctly, you will receive several replies from China mobile in Chinese. CZ is short for “Chu Zhi”, which means “recharge” in Chinese. You can also send “YE” to 10086 to check for your remaining balance. As “Yu Er” is “leftover balance” in Chinese. Hope this helps.

PS.  a travel related post!  and you thought this was an iPhone blog :P