Best VPN for China that Won’t Fail Your Privacy
The Great Firewall of China is infamously difficult to breach, blocking out everything except for the most powerful VPN connections. Today, we’ll take a close look at the best VPN for China, ensuring your privacy online. Once you’ve chosen a provider, you can access the free and open Internet without fear of Chinese censorship.
China has more people than any other country on earth and is one of the world’s biggest and fastest-growing economies. But remarkably, it is also the country ranked dead last in the highly-regarded Freedom on the Net index. This is because the Chinese Communist Party governs China as a single-party authoritarian dictatorship and sees online control as a means of ensuring their political control. Their financial clout means they have managed to build the most comprehensive online censorship and surveillance tools anywhere.
Internet access in China is severely curtailed, with many household names, such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter, unavailable behind what has become known as the Great Firewall. For many in China, especially those familiar with the online world available outside the country, this is intolerable, and they seek ways to get over the Great Firewall and access sites like Google anywhere. The solution most have turned to is a Virtual Private Network, or VPN.
China’s Great Firewall is the most heinous form of Internet censorship, but you can break through with these VPNs:
- NordVPN – Best VPN for China – The Great Firewall is a tough restriction, but NordVPN is tailor-made to beat it. Make use of the NordLynx protocol to restore your online privacy rights.
- Surfshark – A highly affordable and user-friendly VPN with powerful proprietary anti-censorship methods.
- ExpressVPN – Beat the world’s worst Internet restrictions without sacrificing connection speed. Great for Netflix and YouTube.
- VyprVPN – 100% self-owned network, plus proprietary Chameleon protocol for busting through Chinese censors.
- StrongVPN – An excellent balance of privacy, performance, and price.
A VPN works by rerouting your online traffic down a secure, encrypted tunnel to an external server. If this server is located outside of China, a user is then able to view all content available in the country where the server is. Wherever that may be, it will ensure a greater degree of access than that available domestically.
The problem for users in China is finding a VPN that works in China, and then identifying which of those they can get is best. To help you with your choice, I have conducted an extensive review of all the main VPNs. To do this, I have spent time living in China and road-tested dozens of providers while I was there to answer the question of what is the best VPN for China?
Special VPN considerations for Which VPN is Best for China
One fact that everyone should bear in mind, and which is worth clarifying before outlining which VPNs were best, is that in China no VPN is ever 100% perfect. Sometimes they do get caught in the Great Firewall for a time, and evidence from countless other China-based expats who need VPNs will highlight occasional failings in even the very best. What makes the best VPNs for China are those that bounce back from these quickly and continue to offer the most reliable service possible for users.
So, employing the criteria most crucial to internet users in China, I have drawn up my list of the best VPNs for China. To make it onto the list of the best VPNs for China, there are a number of crucial criteria wto hich a VPN must adhere to. These criteria are:
- Fast connection speeds to keep your VPN from slowing your internet down
- Secure connections and strong privacy protection for secure browsing
- A wide range of servers for a broad VPN server network
- Effective customer support – for when things do go wrong
- And, crucially, availability behind the Great Firewall in China
Comparison of the top 5 VPNs for Unblocking China
- 24/7 Live Chat
- 24/7 Live Chat
- 24/7 Live Chat
- 24/7 Live Chat
- 24/7 Live Chat
- Netflix,
- Disney+,
- Amazon Prime,
- iPlayer,
- YouTube,
- Hulu
- Netflix,
- Disney+,
- Amazon Prime,
- iPlayer,
- YouTube,
- Hulu
- Netflix,
- Disney+,
- Amazon Prime,
- iPlayer
- Netflix,
- Disney+,
- Amazon Prime,
- iPlayer,
- YouTube,
- Hulu
- Netflix,
- Disney+,
- Amazon Prime,
- iPlayer,
- YouTube,
- Hulu
Best VPNs that work through the Great Firewall of China
Using the above criteria, we tested out several of the best VPNs on the market. Our results returned the following providers, each proven to break through Chinese censorship and unblock the free and open Internet:
1. NordVPN
Best For China
- Very Affordable Plans
- No Bandwidth Caps
- No IP/DNS leaks found
- No logs and encrypted connections for total privacy
- Live Chat Support
- Advanced features like password manager, breach scanner, dark web monitor, etc.
- Automatic server selection can be unreliable
- Apps can sometimes be slow to connect
NordVPN is the best overall VPN currently available, and it works extremely well to restore access to the free and open Internet to anyone stuck behind the Great Firewall of China. This is possible largely due to NordVPN’s unique NordLynx protocol, an offshoot of the cutting-edge WireGuard tunneling method. This anonymizes your connection, confounding China’s DNS poisoning and keyword blacklists since they can’t surveil your requests.
Once you’re through, you’ll find NordVPN offers connections to the entire world’s Internet, with 6800+ servers in 113 countries. Good performance across the network offers reliably fast and buffer-free streams, plus secure access to foreign news sites and social media.
Whatever you intend to do with NordVPN, do so in confidence, knowing that your provider keeps zero identifiable logs.
Read our full NordVPN review.
2. Surfshark
Best Budget Option
- Dynamic MultiHop that uses a double VPN to make your data more secure
- Robust privacy and security practices
- One of the rare VPNs with unlimited connections
- Buying a monthly plan is more expensive than long-term commitments
- Not as many servers as NordVPN
While Surfshark has only been around since 2019, they’ve fast become a go-to VPN for folks seeking to beat their country’s Internet censorship. In addition to the unbreakable 256-AES-GCM encryption cipher, Surfshark guarantees access to blocked websites through their special Camouflage and NoBorders methods. These are (respectively) obfuscation and anti-censorship countermeasures that become automatically enabled as your Surfshark app detects various types of surveillance and restrictions, and they’re available on each of their 3200+ servers in 65 countries.
In addition to beating censorship, Surfshark saves you from your own poor browsing habits via their CleanWeb feature. This entails adblocking, anti-malware, and anti-tracking, so you can avoid the common pitfalls socially engineered to compromise your anonymity.
And on the subject of anonymity, Surfshark accepts cryptocurrency payments. Combined with their independently audited no-logging policy, you have one of the most secure methods to beat Chinese censorship on the market.
3. ExpressVPN
Great All Around VPN
- Lightway protocol improves speeds and security
- Advanced encryption practices
- Owns a dedicated DNS to ensure more secure connections
- Split tunneling and other extras
- Chinese optimised servers
- Only offers 8 simultaneous connections
- More expensive than some providers
ExpressVPN is the go-to VPN for many Chinese internet users, and with good reason. It has been available in China for a while, so it has built a customer base. But unlike some rivals, whose access to China has been thwarted by the Communist authorities, ExpressVPN has consistently retained its service, making it one of the most reliable VPNs for the Chinese market.
The big selling point for ExpressVPN is its China-optimised servers. These servers are designed to function well behind the Great Firewall, and whilst many are located in nearby countries such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore, others are based in locations across the globe. These servers don’t just work in China, but they work well. ExpressVPN is good for servers generally. They currently boast 3,000+ servers in 105 countries worldwide, which means that no matter where in the world you want to connect to, the likelihood is that ExpressVPN has a server you can use from inside China.
Security-wise, ExpressVPN is one of the best in the business as well. Their entire network is SSL-secured with 256-bit encryption, which is pretty much as good as it gets. Their privacy policies are top-notch as well, and they guarantee no user logs. Being based in the British Virgin Islands means you can be sure they are not compelled to hold any data on users either.
ExpressVPN also operates its own DNS servers, adding an extra layer of privacy to an already robust system. Speeds are good, too. Alongside speed, ExpressVPN also offers a reliable service. During my time in China, I never had a problem with the connection, bar the odd server not connecting which can happen to any VPN anywhere.
Any VPN worth its salt offers a 24/7 live chat feature in its support options, and the ExpressVPN one is second to none, with knowledgeable and helpful staff, all of whom seemed to understand the challenges faced by being in China when I contacted them. All-in-all there is little to fault in the core features of ExpressVPN, making it one of our favorites as to which VPN is best for China.
Read our full ExpressVPN review.
4. VyprVPN
Popular with Chinese Users
VyprVPN is another household name in the VPN world, which is also available to users in China. The big draw for Chinese users with VyprVPN is their “Chameleon” protocol. This is an extra level of security that protects against the Deep Packet Inspection carried out by the Great Firewall and is the principal reason VyprVPN can be accessed in China.
It should be noted that “Chameleon” used to only be available with VyprVPN’s Pro package, but now it comes standard with all of their VPN plans. It is a service that works, and in a nod to Chinese users, they do accept payments using Alipay. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend that because AliPay is owned by Alibaba (the Chinese Amazon), a business very much in the pocket of the Communist regime.
Security-wise, VyprVPN is good with encryption that matches most of their competitors. They also offer a guaranteed no-logs policy. They do however collect connection logs, which include things like a User’s home IP Address, the VyprVPN IP Address you connected to, the connection start and stop time, and the amount of data transferred. VyprVPN is a US-based company, and it is highly unlikely they would willingly hand this over to the Chinese Authorities. But there is always a risk they could be hacked and lose this data, so there is a small risk involved. It is down to the individual user to decide if that risk is worth taking or not.
VyprVPNs connection speeds are good and also fairly reliable, although I did encounter one or two connection issues whilst using it in China, they were not insurmountable problems but rather just inconveniences. They also offer a huge range of servers these days too with more than 700 available in 70+ locations around the world. VyprVPN is one of the VPN providers that owns all of its own servers as well, which not only aids speed and reliability but is a privacy boost as well because they don’t rely on the security of external server owners.
Lastly, their customer support also reaches the standards set by ExpressVPN with a quick and helpful live chat service at its heart, which helped me out on several occasions whilst based in China. I wouldn’t go so far as to say VyprVPN is on a level with ExpressVPN at this stage, but they are certainly pushing them hard and offer an effective and reliable service to Chinese users, provided they are willing to pay for the Pro version of their service.
Read our full VyprVPN review.
5. StrongVPN
Fast and Reliable VPN for Unblocking China
The third and final VPN that I would recommend for Chinese users is StrongVPN. Its popularity amongst Chinese users is mostly because it is not one of the ‘big-boy’ VPNs that the Communist Party censors go after, but it still offers a service that is commensurate with them.
As far as security goes, StrongVPN is good. The default protocol on their service OpenVPN with 256-bit encryption and SHA512. Other protocols are also available, but a manual setup is required. As far as privacy goes, StrongVPN ticks all the boxes with a no-logs guarantee, meaning user connection data is not retained. However, like VyprVPN they are based in the USA and so will be compelled to keep the same connection data, which might concern some users.
Their server numbers are not as high as the other two on this list, with a total offering of more than 950 servers in 30+ countries. This will be sufficient for most users, as all the main locations are covered, but some users may want more variety.
In my experience, all of the servers I tried seemed to be able to work in China, and the speeds they offered were both reasonably fast and offered a consistent and reliable connection.
As far as customer service is concerned, there is a 24/7 service, but it is only through their support form, not a live chat facility. They do respond to inquiries pretty promptly (I don’t think I ever had to wait more than a couple of hours), but it is not as efficient or helpful as an on-the-spot answer in a Live Chat.
Is it legal to use a VPN in China?
While the Great Firewall of China prevents people from accessing some of the biggest websites in the world, a quality VPN can get rid of these restrictions. But the question still stands – is it legal to use a VPN in China?
While there are no concrete laws concerning the usage of VPN, there is a lot of grey area, particularly if you are using the service as an individual. In politically sensitive areas of China, such as Tibet and Xinjiang, there have been cases where locals were detained and even charged for using a VPN. Furthermore, in 2011, the Shanghai court issued a suspended jail sentence and a fine to a software developer who created a VPN service.
These reports, however, are quite specific. First of all, businesses in China need to use a VPN for work purposes, and they must be granted permission from the government to do so. The current law is that VPN use has to be approved by the Chinese government, otherwise it is banned. The VPN providers must give the government backdoor access, which negates any privacy practices to protect users. Many Chinese citizens still use VPNs without permission, but they can be subject to fines and prison sentences, some as long as five years. These punishments, however, are inconsistent.
There seems to be more leniency for visitors from outside China who use a VPN in the country. However, some have experienced authorities putting surveillance applications on their phones or even having them remove their VPN apps during their stay. If you choose to use a VPN in China, be aware of these possible outcomes and consequences.
How a VPN works in China
A VPN works by redirecting all of your online traffic down a secure, encrypted tunnel to an external server. This server is often located overseas and this is crucial for users in China because if the server is outside China access to websites and services which are blocked in China becomes possible.
It is the ideal solution because as well as getting over the Great Firewall, a VPN encrypts all of your data ensuring that authorities in China, including your own ISP, are unable to see what you are doing online. This means that you can write openly and freely online without fear of retribution from vengeful law enforcement agencies.
Of course, the Chinese authorities know about VPNs and the fact that they can help people get around their censorship and surveillance programmes and they have tried to take steps to block or limit their usage.
In Xinjiang, a province in the extreme north-west of China where a prominent Muslim Uighur minority campaigned for independence from China, VPN users last year found their mobile phone SIM cards being disabled.
And the most recent Chinese legislation which cracked down on online freedom under the guise of anti-terrorist legislation included a requirement for all sites available to Chinese users to hold a Chinese domain name. This effectively means they need approval from the Communist Party in order to operate in China, and of course, any VPN that doesn’t comply with Government rules is unlikely to receive approval.
This law has proved controversial and is likely to damage the country’s economy (as it will affect many overseas companies operating in China, too) and also looks difficult to enforce. For now, no such rules have been put in place.
But it does serve to show that there has never been a better time to get a VPN if you are living in, or visiting, China.
Fang Binxing’s VPN
Fang Binxing is the man credited with creating the ‘Golden Shield Project’ and is often referred to as the ‘Father of the Great Firewall’. In 2016 he was giving a talk on internet security at Harbin Institute of Technology when he tried to access a website hosted in South Korea. On the projector screen, a message appeared stating that the URL was being blocked. Then, in full view of the audience, Fang Binxing proceeded to log into his VPN, accessed the site, and then continued with his talk.
If a VPN is good enough for the ‘Father of the Great Firewall,’ it should be good enough for you and me.
It was not made public which VPN provider Fang Binxing used, but there are plenty out there he could choose from. But it is not as simple as just signing up for the first one you find on Google. All VPN providers are different and all offer different services. Some are ideally suited, and indeed tailored for Chinese internet users, while others will not work in China at all.
RELATED READING: Alternatives to Green VPN
Why a VPN is necessary in China
China is a country with more people than any other place on earth. It has the largest population of any country on earth, which currently stands at 1.38 billion people. The recent abolition of their controversial one-child policy means this is likely to grow considerably in the years ahead.
Sadly, for most of those people, for almost seventy years, the country has been under the control of a Communist dictatorship. And whilst in the past twenty years, China has significantly opened its doors to the outside world, it remains a one-party state and a country where individual freedoms are hugely curtailed.
Nowhere is this more in evidence than online, where the Chinese Government oversees the most restrictive and intrusive online surveillance and censorship programs in the world.
The Golden Shield Project
It was initiated back in 1998, towards the very beginning of the internet revolution, and first came into operation in November 2003. Whilst it carries the formal name of ‘The Golden Shield Project’ (金盾工程 in Chinese), it is more popularly referred to as the Great Firewall.
It can be traced back to one of the favourite expressions of former Chinese Communist Party leader and President Deng Xiaoping, which said that “If you open the window for fresh air, you have to expect some flies to blow in.”
The internet arrived in China in 1994, but the Communist Party quickly became concerned that it offered an opportunity for the Chinese Democracy Party, to build a network of supporters without the Communist Party being able to control it.
The first laws to control Chinese citizen’s activity online were passed in 1997 and just six years later, the Great Firewall was up. Today, on the highly-regarded Freedom on the Net Index, compiled by Freedom House, China (and Myanmar) were determined to be the world’s worst internet freedom environments.
Censored websites
But what does this mean to the estimated 700 million in China who are connected to the internet? Well firstly, any website or service which refuses to comply with the Chinese Communist Party’s censorship requirements is blocked in the country.
This means that household names elsewhere in the world, such as Google, Wikipedia, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter, are unavailable to users in China. Instead, they have the option to use home-grown alternatives such as Weibo and WeChat. By the way, VPNs are recommended for WeChat users. These perform the same function but allow the Communist regime to block content and monitor activity. There is no shortage of people who have disappeared or been imprisoned as a result of comments they have made on Chinese social media sites.
According to the state-run Chinese news agency Xinhua, “only “superstitious, pornographic, violence-related, gambling, and other harmful information” is blocked in China. The final item on the list appears to have a very broad interpretation. Certainly, sites that are politically contrary to the interests of the Chinese Communist Party are blocked. This includes sites which mention such topics as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, Falun Gong, the independence of Taiwan, the independence of Tibet, and broader themes such as freedom of speech and democracy. Overseas news sites such as the BBC, Yahoo! Hong Kong, and Bloomberg News are also blocked, along with the New York Times app.
It is difficult to estimate the total number of websites which are actually unavailable in China, but it stands at the very least in the tens of thousands. If you want to see which sites cannot be accessed, www.greatfirewallofchina.org is a great tool. According to them, AddictiveTips is one of the many sites deemed unsuitable for Chinese users.
How to guard your digital rights in China
So, if you are living in China, or visiting China, what can you do to enable you to access the internet as usual. Well, if your visit happens to coincide with a major international conference or event, you might get lucky. During the Beijing Olympics, the Great Firewall was lifted in places where the Communist regime believed international delegates and journalists might visit. This has been reported at various other big international events too.
But if you are living in China, or visiting for more mundane purposes, the only real solution is a Virtual Private Network or VPN.
Top Features to Look for in a VPN for China
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If you decide to use a VPN in China, you really need to focus on some must-haves, or risk detection and possible punishment. Here are some specifics to look for:
- Choose a provider that has a reputation for working in China (such as the ones on this list)
- Reliable uptimes and fast speeds (to avoid lags and slowdowns)
- Robust encryption protocols (example: AES 256-bit encryption)
- Use a kill-switch, which cuts your internet if your VPN unexpectedly drops, keeping your data safe
- Use obfuscated servers to hide that you’re using a VPN
Why Free VPNs Are Risky for China Use
Most free VPNs won’t work in China unless they have already been approved by the Chinese government, which means they really aren’t private. If you do manage to get a free VPN that hasn’t given the government backdoor access, they either can’t get through the Great Firewall at all or have horrible connectivity when they do. They just don’t have the same level of security features, encryptions, and protections that pay-to-use VPNs have. When it comes to VPN use in China, you really don’t want to cut corners either. If their service drops suddenly, it could leave your real IP address exposed if they don’t have advanced features like a kill-switch.
Additionally, most free VPNs are a bit suspect anyway. They can be used to collect and sell your data to third parties (they have to pay for their services somehow), or they may even leave you vulnerable to malware and other security threats. The few somewhat reputable free VPNs out there don’t generally offer you much in the way of services, with severe data limitations and restrictions that don’t really make it worthwhile.
Concluding Thoughts
There are other VPNs that do work behind the Great Firewall, but in my experience, the VPNs detailed here offer the best service for Chinese-based users. As for what is the best VPN for China, NordVPN is the market leader amongst Chinese users at the moment for a reason. Their service in China is on par with their service in other parts of the world, and that is no mean feat.
Our remaining recommendations have plenty to offer, too, and it should be reassuring to Chinese users that there are high-quality VPN providers they can opt for. Anyone will do the job, but for me, NordVPN is still the pick of the bunch at the moment.
Are you in China and struggling to access your favorite websites and apps? We have additional guides to help you navigate the digital landscape in China, whether you’re trying to unblock Telegram, access Viber, or browse blocked sites, we have the solutions you need.
Perhaps you’re a music lover and you’re missing your favorite tunes on Spotify? Our guide on how to unblock Spotify in China will get you back to jamming in no time. Or maybe you’re into crypto trading and are looking for ways to trade Bitcoin in China? For the gamers out there, see our guide on how to unblock Twitch in China.
For the social media enthusiasts, we have guides on how to unblock Pinterest, access Twitter, and browse Tumblr in China.
Finally, if you’re in China and are missing your favorite British TV shows, our guides on how to watch BBC iPlayer in China or how to get a UK IP in China are just for you.
So, why wait? Dive in and explore our guides to make the most of your internet experience in China!
Frequently Asked Questions
- What VPNs should I use for China Mobile?
China Mobile Communications Corporation (China Mobile) is a telecommunications company that is used for Hong Kong and China. It has the largest customer base and network in the world, servicing all major provinces and areas in China. Because it is a state-owned corporation, security and privacy practices for users are highly suspect. Therefore, a VPN is recommended when using this service, at least for particular activities. Some of the best VPNs for China Mobile include NordVPN, Surfshark, and many others already mentioned earlier.
- How do I choose a server to use?
When using a VPN in China, choose a server that is in a location fairly close but still outside of China. Closer server locations tend to mean faster speeds and less lag, though you can try some trial and error if you find nearby servers are too overloaded from other users. Because China is so huge, you’ll have to factor in your individual location to find the best options in comparison to where you actually are.
- What are the most commonly blocked websites in China?
Social media sites (think Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) and search engines (Google, Yahoo, etc.) Some search engines will still work, but you may get different query results than you would outside of China. Also, messaging apps (like Facebook messenger and SnapChat), news/information sites (Wall Street Journal, Google News, etc.), Media sites (like Netflix and YouTube), and any apps or sites that don’t comply with Chinese government guidelines
- Can VPNs be tracked in China?
The Great Firewall is constantly evolving and improving, which is why you may have no problems with using a VPN in China one day, and suddenly be unable to the next. It works to detect VPN usage, blocking you from that server when it can detect you. Try switching to a new server when this happens and see if it solves your problem.
Meanwhile, to protect your browsing privacy, don’t skimp out on the quality of your VPN. The more advanced features and encryptions they have, the better protected you’ll be. Also, make sure you’re using a stealth VPN (also called obfuscation or camouflage mode), which helps to hide that you’re using a VPN at all. This obfuscation makes your internet traffic look like any other regular traffic. Normally, VPN traffic is formatted in a way that it can sometimes be recognized as a VPN, so be sure not to skip this important obfuscation step. Only choose a provider who offers this service.
If you need a VPN for a short while when traveling for example, you can get our top ranked VPN free of charge. NordVPN includes a 30-day money-back guarantee. You will need to pay for the subscription, that’s a fact, but it allows full access for 30 days and then you cancel for a full refund. Their no-questions-asked cancellation policy lives up to its name.
Ivacy vpn is the best so far, I am using it for a year now and its working fine.
ExpressVPN works extremely well in China. HK servers for the win!