China's not like the US, they stick cell towers EVERYWHERE, so reception is very good. If you want to use a local SIM, you might have to go with China Unicom, instead of China Mobile. There's a good chance China Mobile doesn't have microSIMs yet so you'll have to cut it down. China Unicom should have microSIMs since they carry iPhone 4. Also, unless they recently changed, China Mobile 3G is not compatible with iPhone, whereas China Unicom is.