\tBack in 2004, China’s cell phone users were grooving to their friends’ favorite tunes almost every time they made a call. Color Ringback Tones, as these songs that replace the repeating ringing signal are called, swept the nation after being popular with Japanese and Korean youth. More than 30 million users subscribed to the service in 2005, according to China Radio International, which let people pick from endless lists of Chinese and Western music to personalize their ringback tone. In 2009, The New York Times reported that even state-controlled China Mobile got in on the action by changing their users’ ringback tones to Jackie Chan’s “Guojia” or “Country” in celebration of National Day.<\/p>\n
\tWhile these days the fad seems to be fading, reports say that China is still one of the primary consumers of ringback tones, even while Western service providers like AT&T and Verizon Wireless still offer support for this feature.<\/p>\n
\tThis means, whether you like it or not, there’s a chance your own Chinese cell phone has a ringback tone, and you’ve been torturing your friends with a polytonic symphony every time they call.<\/p>\n
\tLet us help you fix that.<\/p>\n
\tGet Started<\/strong><\/p>\n \tChina has two major mobile phone operators, China Mobile and China Unicom, and they both have a ringback tone service. If you use China Mobile, a ringback tone is called \u5f69\u94c3 (c\u01ceilíng). If you have China Unicom, it is called \u70ab\u94c3 (xuànlíng). If you want a ringback tone, it doesn’t matter if you get \u5f69\u94c3 or \u70ab\u94c3—they’re the same thing.<\/p>\n \tChina Mobile<\/strong><\/p>\n \tDial 10086 to call China Mobile’s customer service. You will hear a long introduction, but all you need to do is press 0 to speak with the operator. Ask, “Can you help me open the ring tone service?” (\u4f60\u80fd\u5e2e\u6211\u5f00\u901a\u5f69\u94c3\u5417\uff1f N\u01d0 néng b\u0101ng w\u01d2 k\u0101it\u014dng c\u01ceilíng ma?)<\/p>\n \tIf this is too challenging, you can use China Mobile’s official website for ringback tones: http:\/\/music.10086.cn\/.<\/p>\n \t1. Become a member and open the \u5f69\u94c3 service. Click \u5f00\u901a\u5f69\u94c3\u4e1a\u52a1.<\/p>\n \t2. The next page asks for your cell phone number (\u624b\u673a\u53f7 sh\u01d2uj\u012b hào), your email address and a verification code (\u9a8c\u8bc1\u7801 yànzhèng m\u01ce). If you can’t read the code, click “change to another image” (\u6362\u4e00\u5f20 huàn y\u012b zh\u0101ng), and a new verification code will appear. Then, check the box to approve the user agreement (\u6211\u5df2\u7ecf\u770b\u8fc7\u5e76\u540c\u610f\u300a\u7528\u6237\u4f7f\u7528\u534f\u8bae\u300bW\u01d2 y\u01d0j\u012bng kànguò bìng tóngyì “yònghù sh\u01d0yòng xiéyì”). Then click “next step” (\u4e0b\u4e00\u6b65 xià y\u012bbù).<\/p>\n \t3. Next, you will receive a mobile phone verification code in a text message. Enter the code into the box and click \u4e0b\u4e00\u6b65.<\/p>\n \t4. You will now receive a text message reminder from China Mobile which says, “Your Color Ringback Tone service is now available” (\u60a8\u7684\u5f69\u94c3\u4e1a\u52a1\u5df2\u5f00\u901a Nín de c\u01ceilíng yèwù y\u01d0 k\u0101it\u014dng). The message will also include a song recommendation with a corresponding number. Reply to the text with that number to change your ringback tone to the recommended song.<\/p>\n \t5. You can also search any song’s name on the website http:\/\/music.10086.cn\/. Enter the song’s name into the box on the top of the page and click “search” (\u641c\u7d22 s\u014dusu\u01d2). Choose the one you want from the results and click “use as ringback tone” (\u5b9a\u5236\u5f69\u94c3 dìngzhì c\u01ceilíng). Enter your phone number and the verification code. Click “get verification code from a text message” (\u83b7\u53d6\u77ed\u4fe1\u9a8c\u8bc1\u7801 huòq\u01d4 du\u01cenxìn yànzhèng m\u01ce). Enter the code you receive in the text message and click “confirm” (\u786e\u8ba4\u5b9a\u5236 quèrèn dìngzhì).<\/p>\n \t6. After you confirm your ringback tone, you will get a text message from China Mobile that says, “Dear customer, your ring tone is available now” (\u5c0a\u656c\u7684\u5ba2\u6237\uff0c\u60a8\u7684\u94c3\u97f3\u8bbe\u7f6e\u64cd\u4f5c\u5df2\u6210\u529f Z\u016bnjìng de kèhù, nín de líng y\u012bn shèzhì c\u0101ozuò y\u01d0 chéngg\u014dng). Congratulations!<\/p>\n \tChina Unicom<\/strong><\/p>\n \tJust like with China Mobile, you can call China Unicom’s customer service hotline at 10010. Press 0 to speak with the phone operator and press 9 to ask for English service. If you prefer to use their website, follow the directions below.<\/p>\n \t1. Click “register” \u6ce8\u518c\u65b0\u8d26\u6237 (zhùcè x\u012bn zhànghù) to open an account. You can either use your cell phone number to register (\u624b\u673a\u514d\u8d39\u6ce8\u518c sh\u01d2uj\u012b mi\u01cenfèi zhùcè) or use an email address (\u90ae\u7bb1\u6ce8\u518c yóuxi\u0101ng zhùcè).<\/p>\n \t2. If you decide to register with your cell phone number, you’ll be asked to provide a verification code, a username (\u6635\u79f0 nìch\u0113ng) and a password (mìm\u01ce \u5bc6\u7801). Confirm the password, check to agree with the user agreement and click \u7acb\u5373\u6ce8\u518c to register.<\/p>\n \t3. If you choose to register with your email address, fill this in along with the website verification code.<\/p>\n \t4. Return to the homepage and click \u5f00\u901a\u70ab\u94c3 to open the ringtone service. Provide your cellphone number click \u83b7\u53d6\u9a8c\u8bc1\u7801 to get your verification code. After you have the code, enter it into the second box. Don’t forget to click \u786e\u8ba4 to confirm.<\/p>\n \t5. Finally, search for your favorite song on the site by entering it’s name in the box next to “find music” (\u53d1\u73b0\u97f3\u4e50 f\u0101xiàn y\u012bnyuè). Choose the right one and click the cellphone icon. A new page will pop out, where you can check \u5b9a\u5236\u70ab\u94c3, provide your phone number, get a verification code and enter it. Click confirm, and you’ve got a new ringback tone!<\/p>\n