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.

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China 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 彩铃 (cǎilíng). If you have China Unicom, it is called 炫铃 (xuànlíng). If you want a ringback tone, it doesn’t matter if you get 彩铃 or 炫铃—they’re the same thing.

China Mobile

Dial 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?” (你能帮我开通彩铃吗？ Nǐ néng bāng wǒ kāitōng cǎilíng ma?)

If this is too challenging, you can use China Mobile’s official website for ringback tones:

1. Become a member and open the 彩铃 service. Click 开通彩铃业务.

2. The next page asks for your cell phone number (手机号 shǒujī hào), your email address and a verification code (验证码 yànzhèng mǎ). If you can’t read the code, click “change to another image” (换一张 huàn yī zhāng), and a new verification code will appear. Then, check the box to approve the user agreement (我已经看过并同意《用户使用协议》Wǒ yǐjīng kànguò bìng tóngyì “yònghù shǐyòng xiéyì”). Then click “next step” (下一步 xià yībù).

3. Next, you will receive a mobile phone verification code in a text message. Enter the code into the box and click 下一步.

4. You will now receive a text message reminder from China Mobile which says, “Your Color Ringback Tone service is now available” (您的彩铃业务已开通 Nín de cǎilíng yèwù yǐ kāitōng). 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.

5. You can also search any song’s name on the website Enter the song’s name into the box on the top of the page and click “search” (搜索 sōusuǒ). Choose the one you want from the results and click “use as ringback tone” (定制彩铃 dìngzhì cǎilíng). Enter your phone number and the verification code. Click “get verification code from a text message” (获取短信验证码 huòqǔ duǎnxìn yànzhèng mǎ). Enter the code you receive in the text message and click “confirm” (确认定制 quèrèn dìngzhì).

6. 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” (尊敬的客户，您的铃音设置操作已成功 Zūnjìng de kèhù, nín de líng yīn shèzhì cāozuò yǐ chénggōng). Congratulations!

China Unicom

Just 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.

1. Click “register” 注册新账户 (zhùcè xīn zhànghù) to open an account. You can either use your cell phone number to register (手机免费注册 shǒujī miǎnfèi zhùcè) or use an email address (邮箱注册 yóuxiāng zhùcè).

2. If you decide to register with your cell phone number, you’ll be asked to provide a verification code, a username (昵称 nìchēng) and a password (mìmǎ 密码). Confirm the password, check to agree with the user agreement and click 立即注册 to register.

3. If you choose to register with your email address, fill this in along with the website verification code.

4. Return to the homepage and click 开通炫铃 to open the ringtone service. Provide your cellphone number click 获取验证码 to get your verification code. After you have the code, enter it into the second box. Don’t forget to click 确认 to confirm.

5. Finally, search for your favorite song on the site by entering it’s name in the box next to “find music” (发现音乐 fāxiàn yīnyuè). Choose the right one and click the cellphone icon. A new page will pop out, where you can check 定制炫铃, provide your phone number, get a verification code and enter it. Click confirm, and you’ve got a new ringback tone!

While 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.