Be Careful Not Every VPN Is Safe Or Works In China
Its essential to find a reliable and trustworthy VPN to use in China but its not easy. Many safe VPNs struggle to bypass the governments firewalls. Local VPNs that do work in China are government-approved and share your online activity with the authorities.
Based on my tests, I can confirm that Astrill VPN, ExpressVPN, and PrivateVPN are trustworthy and work well in China. Youll enjoy secure and unlimited access to blocked sites like Google, Facebook, WhatsApp, Netflix, and more.
For long-term residents in China, I recommend Astrill VPN as every server works inside the country. But if youre only in China for a short amount of time, I suggest you try ExpressVPN with its 30-day money-back guarantee instead. You could even use ExpressVPN entirely for free just request a refund within the first 30 days .
Why Use A VPN In China
With the right VPN, . The Chinese government heavily censors the internet, so youll find most of your favorite sites are banned or simply wont load.
A quality VPN also keeps your online activities safe from government surveillance. If you take your privacy seriously, then a VPN is essential for securing your personal data while in China.
Purevpn Effective China VPN Service
PureVPN is a Hong Kong based VPN service that you can try as a VPN suited for unblocking Chinese websites. The provider is currently offering its services in 141+ countries through 750+ servers worldwide. The service is compatible with all the leading platforms that include Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, routers, gaming consoles and so on. Here is the list of salient features PureVPN offers:
- Provides multi-login feature to its users
- Follows zero-logging policy
- Offers a comprehensive list of tunneling protocols like PPTP, SSTP, L2TP/IPsec, OpenVPN and IKEv2
- Provides 256-bit military grade encryption
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Ivacy Basic China VPN Service
Ivacy VPN is a Hong Kong based VPN service striving hard to become a major player in an online privacy industry. Moreover, the service is available in 50+ countries through 200 servers worldwide. The service offers impressive compatibility for different platforms. The list of benefits that Ivacy VPN provides is:
- Offers multi-login feature
- Provides 256-bit military grade encryption
- Offers internet kill switch benefit to the users
- Follows no logs policy
What VPN Should I Choose For China
We know this is a lot of info to digest and if you arent a tech expert, you might be a bit lost. To help you make the right choice, we suggest that you choose the best VPN depending on your priorities .
- If youre looking for a fast VPN, then ExpressVPN offers the Lightway protocol, a good number of servers close to China and in our tests, tends to always be one of the fastest. It has also been the VPN that in our experience has best withstood the constant updates to the Great Firewall.
- If having internet on your smartphone or tablet is a key feature for you, then you should go for Express VPN. You can read more about the topic here.
- If youre looking for a user-friendly VPN then, once more, ExpressVPN is the easiest of the four VPN to use.
- If you need a secure connection for transmitting sensitive data, then you should go for VyprVPN, which offers more protocols including Chameleon, which is especially designed for China, and Nat Firewall, for an extra layer of security.
- If you all you care about is the price, then Ivacy is cheapest option among the best VPNs.
- If you need a VPN that can connect to servers from many different countries, ExpressVPN is the one that offers the most possibilities.
Still not sure what VPN should you choose?
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How Do VPNs Bypass The Great Firewall Of China
You must be wondering how a VPN bypasses the network restrictions that the Great Firewall of China sets up. They do that by doing two things.
If the firewall doesnt know what you are trying to access and from where you are trying to access it, it will not block it.
The actual data containing the information such as the website name, streaming content, messages, chats, videos, or anything you are trying to send over the internet is encrypted using a VPN before it leaves your device.
The Great Firewall only sees the encrypted data, so it can not determine what it is that the user is trying to access.
Similarly, at the time of receiving, the data sent by the destination is also scrambled, courtesy of the same VPN server you used earlier to send the traffic.
The Great Firewall of China sees this incoming traffic but due to the VPN encryption, it can not intercept or decode it.
The data and the destination identity itself are hidden as it will look like you are receiving the data from an anonymous location or server.
The destinations identity hidden here is the most crucial advantage of the VPN. If the identity is revealed, the firewall would immediately block the transmission.
That being said, China can block VPN servers just like it blocks different websites, so be sure to get ExpressVPN, which is the best VPN for China because it constantly refreshes its servers and IP addresses to make sure none of them are blocked by China.
What To Look For When Choosing Your VPN For China
If you arrive in China with a VPN that doesnt work, theres not much you can do to access blocked sites. So choose your VPN carefully. Heres what you should look for when deciding which VPN to use in China:
- Proven ability to bypass Chinas censorship The large majority of VPNs dont work well in China. My team and I use the recommended VPNs regularly, so Ill update this page if any of these services stop working.
- Servers close to China Speed often depends on the distance between you and the VPNs server. Thats why youll get the fastest speeds from servers in neighboring countries, like Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and South Korea.
- Strong encryption Military-grade encryption and advanced protocols are the best for getting around restrictions in China.
- 24/7 technical support You want to be able to solve any connection problems in a few minutes.
- Money-back guarantee Even proven VPNs will sometimes struggle due to Chinas constant firewall updates . Thats why its worth having at least 1 backup VPN. I suggest signing up to multiple VPNs and using the money-back guarantee to get refunds later.
Quick Tip: Make sure you . Thats because most VPN websites are blocked, along with the Google Play and Apple App Stores. Its very tricky to install a VPN once youre already in China. Youll need to download a VPN through mirror links, which arent easy to find and dont always work.
Astrill VPN works on: Windows, Android, Mac, iOS, Linux, and routers.
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VPN Into China Get China Ip And Watch Your Favorite Chinese Sites Outside China
If you live outside China and unable to enjoy your favorite Chinese sites, you should get Chinese IP address. You can get the Chinese IP address by the help of using a China VPN server. For this purpose, you will need a VPN into China. After connecting to any Mainland VPN service of your choice, your VPN will allow you to get into China straightaway. However, you will not find many VPN services that provide Chinese VPN servers to the users.
A VPN with Chinese IP addresses will enable you to circumvent the issue of region blocking. In addition, this approach will provide you immediate benefit even if you are living outside China. By taking advantage of China VPN service, you can easily access to your favorite websites like Youku, Todou, and Sohu.
Why Would Somebody Look For A VPN Into China Not Out Of It
Well, therere a few needs for that.
For example, in China, therere a large number of media services that provide entertainment contents such as movies, TV shows, music etc.
Top China online video platforms include: CNTV.cn, Youku.com, Tudou.com, TV.Sohu.com, V.Baidu.com, Video.sina.com.cn, V.qq.com, IQiYi.com etc. Top China music services include Netease Music, QQ Music, Baidu Music etc.
While people in China can watch a lot of contents from these providers free of charge, many of those video platforms have implemented IP address-blocking , so that their contents are not available to people outside of China. Usually this type of geo-blocking works by looking at a visitors IP address. If your IP address doesnt belong to China, you will not be able to watch those blocked contents. Since by using a VPN can hide a users real VPN IP address, you can use VPN to bypass this kind of geo-blocking, just like using VPN to unlock Netflix.
Besides watching China-only videos, there might be some other needs for getting a VPN into China. For example, some web developers might want to test whether their website is blocked in China, or test how fast their website loads in China. For this reason, they might need to use VPN to get into China and do their tests.
Which VPNs are good for getting into China? Wed recommend the following VPN providers:
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Secure VPN For China Nordvpn
Key Features:
- AES-256-Bit military-grade encryption
- 89 Mbps connection speed on a 100 Mbps internet connection
NordVPN is the most secure VPN for China. It offers state-of-the-art security and encryption tools that are hardly available with any other VPN provider. So if you are worried about your online privacy and anonymity in China, then NordVPN is definitely the right choice for you.
Although it doesnt offer a server in China, it offers 5200+ servers in 60 countries that allow you to access US Netflix with NordVPN, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Amazon, and other international streaming services residing in China.
NordVPNs Hong Kong server could unblock various Chinese-based content as per our testing making it a great option for users in China.
NordVPN offers an Obfuscated servers feature that allows you to use VPN in the toughest and strictest environments, such as China. These servers help bypass restrictions in regions popular for strict censorship imposed by the government, such as China,Russia, and the UAE.
NordVPN does not store users logs and provides a comprehensive list of tunneling protocols to Chinese users. Besides, it also offers a double VPN encryption that encrypts your data not once but twice, making it untraceable online.
Needless to say, we didnt experience any DNS/IP leak issue while we tested NordVPN in China. You can see the test result below:
If you face any problems downloading its app, you can try downloading it from NordVPNs mirror website.
How Can I Access The Ios App Store In China
The good news here, Apples iOS app store is allowed in China under strict abidance with the censorship laws. Dont expect VPN apps to be present there as China is cracking down on anti-censorship applications. Recently Apple removed over 30,000 apps in compliance with Chinas new regulation.
The way to access banned apps on iOS is by changing the Apple accounts region to another country. But for that to work, you will need to make a payment using a method native to that country. You can dodge that by purchasing a gift card from the respective country and using it as payment for shopping on the app store.
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VPN Guides For Other Countries
Here are the best VPN guides for other countries:
No, not if you wish to use it occasionally. You dont have to leave your VPN on all the time in China but leaving it on as much as possible wouldnt be a bad idea. You can never be too careful, so enabling the VPN at all times is the best way to ensure your security and privacy.
Leaving your VPN on also reduces the risk of forgetting to turn it on in more vulnerable circumstances, like when youre using a public Wi-Fi network.
Benefits Of Using Purevpn In China
PureVPN is a great China VPN that has a wide set of features that enhance the online security of users in China while providing access to a blocked website. Some of the key benefits it offers are:
31 Days Money Back Guarantee
Users can also enjoy PureVPNs trial to see if the VPN proves satisfactory for their needs. If not, then they can easily cancel PureVPN and even get your refund within 31 days of subscription.
Although the VPN performs well most of the time, no service is perfect. Issues arise from time to time, and if you find that PureVPN has stopped running for any reason, you can contact their customer support through live chat.
Users that prefer long-term commitment can also keep an eye for PureVPN 5-year subscription, which the provider releases from time to time with the cheapest rates in the long run.
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What Is A VPN And Why Do I Need One In China
As you probably already know, the internet doesnt work like we would like it to in China, and a large number of websites and apps are blocked by the Great Firewall. Among these websites and apps that you cant access are Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and all Google Services.
There are many other blocked websites, and depending on what you do, it may be virtually impossible for you to work in China without a VPN . In addition, most of the services that arent blocked but are allocated outside China, are extremely slow.
To solve this problem, you can install a VPN, which masks your I.P. address so that your laptop appears to be connected from the U.S. or Japan even if you are in China
A VPN will allow you to bypass the firewall and access any website you want. However, you need to choose wisely, even though there are dozens of VPN services available, only a few work well in China. We have tested several of them for more than 10 years and today were going to review the ones we like the most.
Can You Get Access Chinese Websites From Taiwan Or Hong Kong
Up until 2009 it was possible for anyone using a Hong Kong or Taiwan based IP address could access most websites filtered outside of mainland China. This was perfect for VPN users, as a wide variety of providers offer server locations in both areas. Unfortunately, new laws were eventually passed that blocked both Taiwan and Hong Kong from the Chinese internet. Apart from the low-latency benefits gained by their close proximity, neither area offers any benefits over IP addresses from another country.
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Research Methodology: How We Tested These VPNs
As the Great Firewall becomes increasingly advanced, its getting harder and harder to find VPNs that actually work in China. To make our recommendations as helpful as possible, our team of testers throughout China constantly tests and retests each service.
These testers report results on dozens of different elements for each VPN, to create the most complete picture possible of what it actually has to offer. This is how we know which VPNs really work. Here are some of the criteria we consider in this process:
What Are The Blocked Websites And Why Are They Blocked
In what is now believed to be a political AND economic decision, the Chinese government has blocked numerous websites and services in recent years.
The restriction is also a way to promote in-country services and websites that fall under the regulations of the Chinese government.
Its highly unlikely that any website that is blocked in 2021 will be unblocked anytime soon, so we recommend you to get the best Virtual Private Network to access those sites.
What are the popular websites blocked? You may be wondering.
Below are some of the most popular blocked ones, which can only be unblocked with a tested VPN in China:
- All Google services
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The Best VPNs For Android Users In China
We cant forget our friends with Android devices. We were also able to find the best VPNs for Android users in China.
What Websites Are Blocked In China
The list of websites blocked in China is long and changes every day. Generally speaking, the most popular social networks , messaging applications , blogging platforms , Google services and media websites that may be or have been critical towards China are blocked.
Then, there are websites or software that arent blocked but are so slow that they become practically useless. The most common example is probably Skype, which works on and off .
Generally speaking, most of the websites that arent hosted on a Chinese server will be slow, when you try to connect from within China.
The best way to overcome this problem is, of course, to choose a VPN that is working well in China!
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