Nonsense, I'm in the UK and I text my girlfriend on a day to day basis. I've use o2, Vodafone and Orange. And all messages have sent/received as expected.
When I say as expected, I think I need to clarify something. Basically even if you are in China, using Chinese SIM cards, there is about a 95% to 98% chance that text message will actually be completely delivered, if at all. When you are in different cities within China this percentatage probability is reduced by about 5% to 15% percent. I'm not saying directly this is 'crap', in fact most Chinese prefer to text rather than talk. Texts are so cheap they are almost free in China.
When you are travelling, say on the train, I'm always amazed how I still get 100% reception, and I'm about 500 miles away from any kinda city. I've never seen my phone drop one bar on the reception monitor during my 1 year stay (personally I worry about just how many microwaves are going through my brain, 100% of the time, at 100% power)! Just fields and the odd farm for 5 hours on the go, and still a call is crystal clear (This is impossible in the UK while on the train, and I'm just 5 miles away from a big city)! However, while on the move try sending a text, then turn your mobile off for an hour or two, turn it back on. There's about a 1%-10% chance you'll get the queued reply message from your friend.
Well, I guess its probably is easier to monitor text messages than voice, hence messages do get lost, often. I'd say this has nothing to do with if you are sending from another country, its just how texts are treated in China.
In summary, whether in China or not, if you want to get important stuff through, pick up the phone and speak.
Hope this is insightful...
~Danny.
