A Little Advice… Best VPN to Get Around the Great Firewall of China

Last updated on March 31, 2023

I feared entering China—and not because I didn’t think they’d let me in; my visa was expensive (US $150), but easy to obtain. No, it was the thought of being without internet access. All I had read about in the news when I first visited in 2011 centered on the Great Firewall of China and vast censorship at work as the Chinese government kept information firmly outside of its borders. Couched as a way to protect Chinese culture, the government insulates its citizens from topics and services we find commonplace in the world outside of China, and foreign tourists, travelers, and concerned citizens must use a VPN to access the full internet in China.

Many of the websites censored in China were the arenas my clients play within. Since I’ve worked remotely while traveling since 2008, accessing client sites is how I pay for it all. Entering China meant potentially losing access to my client’s sites. What’s a remote worker to do? I needed a crash course how to use a VPN to access the internet, including: what are they, which VPNs work in China, and which VPNs will generally serve tourists best beyond China (like when you want to stream U.S. shows elsewhere in the world).

The TL;DR is that NordVPN just works. This VPN works in China to get around the censorship, and it also works essentially every other country in the world. I live in Spain now, and I buy my VPN subscription in bulk, two years at a time, so that I never have to think about how much data I use. It works flawlessly for email, banking, and all the fun things too (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc.).

How to Overcome China’s Great Firewall with VPNs

Researching the real story about accessing blocked websites from China often yields no conclusive results. In fact, information around these inter-webs is sketchy, at best—it’s full of VPN services owning the results telling you the facts … but they clearly have a vested interest in you thinking you need the mac-daddy of all VPNs or you’ll be lost without access.

After researching, I’ve concluded it’s not hard to find VPNs that will login into Facebook even though it’s censored (as is Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat … shall I continue? It’s a long and oft-changing list). The thing is, Gmail is often blocked in China, too—and that was a very serious situation since I’ve long since retired my Hotmail account, and I was loathe to trot out that embarrassing username with clients just because of the Great Firewall of China. So, again, what’s a traveler to do when they just want a to access the web like they can at home?

Well, the internet is still all there—obviously, but you’re going to need a VPN (a virtual private network), which essentially just anonymizes your online identity by masking your location. Tourists are going to want this installed on all of their devices before entering China in order go around China’s censors. I’m not a travel techy guru, I leave that to other tech travel bloggers, but here’s what I figured out:

How to Test Your Website in China

For those working remotely, the first step is finding out which websites if the websites you need are even blocked. Again, you can check if services you use regularly are blocked there, otherwise, head to this website—it’s a wonderfully simple tool—you type in the website you’ll need access to and it tells you if it’s accessible from mainland China right. It even details out which regions of China may have blocked the site.

When you’re a traveler visiting all of the touristy sites, think beyond just “hey, I want to share on Instagram,” and consider which sites you regularly use to plan your trip—is that Lonely Planet, travel blogs like yours truly, or TripAdvisor? You’ll want to make sure your go-to resources are available to you before you enter the country so that you’re not left scrambling (although remember the days of a delightful print guidebook, that’s still a great option, too). If you’re an expat looking for a reliable VPN that works in China, then you’ll need all of the web—that’s doable with an annual VPN subscription to one of most well known services, which would have constant attention to its servers and services. The best VPNs access all of the web because their servers are located outside of China, so you just need to download the VPN before you leave home.

If you’re a techy, then you’ll also love the tools available my the non-profit GreatFire.org, which opposes Chinese censorship and offers browsers and tools to use in the country—if it is absolutely essential that you have internet access, then you should look into Tor browsers and VPN alternatives like this and this—the current government has come down strong on VPNs, so having a diversity of options is the only way to ensure you’ll have access while there.

How to Install an Appropriate VPN Program Ideal for Tourists

Depending on how long you’re staying in China should determine which VPN you use. Only the paid VPNs actually ensure that you can get around the Great Firewall of China. If you use a free VPN back home to anonymize your address for some simple tasks, you can bet that it’s been handily blocked in China ten times over.

NOTE: You must download your VPN before arriving in China, or you risk being unable to get around the firewall long enough to download the VPN.

How Much Does a VPN Cost?

Price wise, tourists in China should expect to pay about $10 to $15 USD for one month from a top-rated VPN that will definitely work in China. If you’re moving to the region or traveling there for months, then note that they all serious offer discounts when you buy coverage for a longer term.

Best VPNs That Work in China (2023)

Since 2017, the Chinese government has cracked down on VPNs and made it harder to keep the internets open there. For that reason, the best VPNs in China are the ones not registered through the government’s scheme (for obvious reasons), and instead run by international VPN companies.

VPNs That Work in China on Desktop Computers

(These links have been my genuine recommendations from my thorough research for many years now—recently, I added an affiliate, which makes me money at no cost to you if you purchase through my link).

• NordVPN: I have used this VPN for my expat life since 2018 and it’s never let me down in the five years and running I’ve used it. The company often runs specials, meaning NordVPN delivers a great ratio of effectiveness, speed, privacy, and price. The company’s customer support is aces, and the service specifically runs Obfuscated Servers, which is what you’ll need to access Facebook, Gmail, and many other services in China—not just Netflix and the fun ones. Download this VPN software before you leave, and then follow this dead-simple tutorial to set up Obfuscated Servers on NordVPN. Then go read NordVPN’s take on China in 2023.
• ExpressVPN: This one is also a top choice according to, well, everyone. If you’re researching most anywhere, you’ll find that ExpressVPN consistently performs well against the Great Firewall of China—if you’re into the more technical review, this one cover that.
• VyprVPN: Offering both speed and security, you can’t go wrong with this option if you’d rather not use the other two (which are preferred).
• Surf Shark: If Netflix is important to you, then this is a great option—although they all should still allow U.S. Netflix, it’s always good to choose one that reviewers note works consistently with the service most important to you!

VPN Apps for Your Smartphone & iPhone That Work in China

Most apps listed previously offer a version for your smartphone that works just fine. That said, the hierarchy of recommendations changes if you’re just traveling China with a phone and don’t much care about desktop browser installation. Whether you have an iPhone or Android, these are the three best VPN apps that work in China for tourists and travelers.

• NordVPN: The iPhone app for this works very well and is an excellent option for those going just for a bit—or heck, even longer since it also works on a browser, NordVPN is a good choice if you use your iPhone a lot and want a solid VPN connection.
• ExpressVPN: Yeah, it’s still likely your best bet for a VPN in China. Tourists can buy the one-month plan and install everything on your various devices—because it’s a big company with a long history of offering VPN services, it’s a safe bet to believe it’s going to work well on your various devices.
• TunnelBear: TunnelBear has a free option offering 500 MB per day. The app is great and I’ve used it for years. But! With a free VPN like TunnelBear, your connection is not guaranteed at all—it goes in and out of working well. This is for for casual VPN use, where there are no stakes to getting online while you travel.

Remember: It is imperative that you download and install your VPN before you enter a restricted country, or it’s all a lot harder. And if you want the honest truth—most expats and travelers in China that truly rely on having a working VPN pay for more than one, so that if one goes down (which happens), they have options.

What to Expect from VPNs & China’s Great Firewall

With China being China, it’s best to say you should be prepared for the unexpected. Everyone had assured me I could access my Gmail account back in 2011 without issue—and then the very day I landed in Beijing, the two powers that be (Google and China) had a kerfuffle and Google accused China of blocking Gmail—which it had. That riff hasn’t gotten better in the many years since, so really and truly, if you’re traveling in China, you need to be prepared with a VPN downloaded that has a proven track record of avoiding the Great Firewall of China, then have it installed and tested before you travel.

Additionally, most hostel computers when I visited actually had VPNs installed on their shared-used computers, so that’s an option, too!

I decided to take make a mini-vacation out of my time traveling in China—I biked through rural areas, ate my face off, and enjoyed glitzy Shanghai—but I was still grateful to have access to the outside world when needed, thanks to VPN services. In the years since I first visited China, I no longer need one that works against the Great Firewall, so I often used TunnelBear because it had a free option and hooked me. That said, I feel it’s a much better deal for travelers and expats to subscribe to NordVPN (that’s what I use) and it just works—all of the time, everywhere. I’ve used my VPN everywhere imaginable—from Vietnam to Guatemala and even this morning from my apartment in Barcelona so that I could catch up on the latest U.S. TV shows on Hulu . I’ll go so far as to say that any frequent traveler needs a VPN—which you chose will largely depend on where you travel.

If you’re planning long-term or RTW travel our planning advice may help clarify other issues besides VPNs that can crop up!

Any other tips, thoughts, advice on VPN services in China and the Great Firewall of China?