This really is a difficult and confusing process for non-Mandarin speakers, but here's what I've done and learned so far:
You can purchase an "M-Zone" China Mobile pre-paid SIMCard from almost anywhere but I tried to purchase mine from Suning (a large electronics dealer) hoping they would be able to help me or answer my questions but my plan didn't work out at all. At Suning once I found someone who spoke some English they gave me the 55 RMB M-Zone China Mobile P........