The Best VPN for China in 2022

All of the information you need to read is here.

Let's face it, issues with an obstructed internet is one of the disadvantages of China living. The great firewall of China as enabled by the Chinese government keeps certain information unavailable. Everyone who comes to China is going to need VPN providers to access services you might’ve taken for granted in the West, like Google.

For a more comprehensive list of which services are no longer available in the West, read my guide: Which websites are blocked in China?

Moreover, so that you know, not all VPN providers are useful. China's authorities are continually upgrading and tweaking their firewall restrictions to moderate information flow so you can't get though.

It can be an uncomfortable feeling to be cut off, when you can't view all the social networks or email accounts you’re used to. So, I tested quite a few different services and here, I will tell you which are simply the best VPN for China.*

*This post contains affiliate links.

These articles compares some of the best services, and below are my top 3 recommendations in a table. If you need to read more information than you see here, you can go the VPN provider's website to get details. Here is the best VPN for China and the best VPNs for porn: 

I'm happy to say VyprVPN is my top recommendation for breaking through the Great Firewall of China. You can't beat it. This vpn service is relatively affordable when compared to what some of the other providers charge on a year to year basis. 

With an addition of a low price, this vpn service also works very well on my desktop, laptop, and my phone, but so that you know, your performance may vary for which part of China you're in. 

In my seven years in China, I’ve tried a few different large VPNs because I wanted to see if I could get a better connection. Read on for making a selection and choosing the right one for you.  

The fastest and most reliable VPNs to visit blocked websites and apps while in China. (Including Facebook, Whatsapp, Google, iPlayer, YouTube, Online News Articles, etc.)

The Best VPN for China: VyprVPN is one of the newer VPNS you can use in China. They know what they're doing. Also, I love their Chameleon options.

Speed: 4-5mbps (with China Telecom)

Best Protocol: PTPP 128-bit encryption and Chameleon

When I went to find the game Hongkai on my phone or laptop, I could tell the software had some trigger to detect and block VPNs. I was able to bypass the time-out with 128-bit encrypted connections.

If you haven't heard the news, VyprVPN recently became a No-log VPN, focused on keeping their users' VPN activities private. They are also very focused on the market of expats in China and excellent support. Some of the other big-name VPNs are easy targets, and their servers are the first to be attacked once the firewall gets its upgrades.

I like the way that the Vypr app automatically selects the best protocol for your situation if you're having trouble connecting. I was having problems connecting a couple of days ago. The app was starting doing some tests and then selected the Chameleon protocol, and I was connected. Pretty cool to have that reliability while living here. I also think it's awesome that I can pay with Alipay, as it will save me the trouble of having to send money abroad.

Another thing I like about this service is the ability to connect with more than 1 device. For a long time, while using this service, I would have to switch off the VPN service on my phone to connect on my computer. I got about 4 Mbps from Jiangxi.

So, you really should try it as they have a money back guarantee if you're not satisfied. They also have a 40% discount if you subscribe for a year.

While this is the best vpn for China, there are no guarantees that things might not change in the future, VyprVPN has shown to be an effective guide for geoblocked content. Netflix has been getting better at detecting and blocking these things.

A reliable, dependable company you can contact anytime. 

I used this for years, from when I came to China back in 2011. I will always be a subscriber. I read that they recently improved their apps. It has no logs, and ample security. You should install it as a backup today. The included Kill Switch will disable all internet traffic when disconnected from a VPN server. 

There are two different plans; one is a monthly subscription while the other is year by year. The plan offers a standalone DNS. This is a great plan to order for accessing geo-locked content.

While Netflix has blocked most VPN service servers, you can use Strong in order to view their content. While it can't be guaranteed that they'll all work, or that Netflix won't block those servers in the future, Strong can be used for now. Not only does it unblock Netflix, but it also unblocks Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and the BBC iPlayer.

It's is very simple to use. All you need to do is get the single app and install it, and it does most of the essential optimizations on its own. You don't even need to restart your computer to get the connection to work.

The app and the full desktop experience is almost identical. If you have an android phone, you can get the app from Google, or if you can't access Google because you don't have an unblocked connection, you can use APKpure. Also, if you get in touch with their customer service, they can give you a link to a mirror where you can download the most recent APK file yourself.

Another one of the great things about this service is that they don't store any vpn traffic or logs. So there is no information for them to hand over to any entity upon request. This means more privacy while you stay connected.

ExpressVPN Unblocks major websites in China without difficulty. ExpressVPN has apps that can be used on your computer, your phone, your laptop, and your routers.

Speeds: 6-7 Mbps (10mbps on China Telecom)

Best Servers: Hong Kong or Los Angeles in the US

Best Protocols: OpenVPN UDP or Automatic

There is no shortage of inexpensive VPNs. Sadly, not all of them are successful in passing China's firewall. Inexpensive VPNs for China tend to have limited servers and bandwidth. This is problematic because China's great firewall makes short work of basic OpenVPN.

ExpressVPN is one of the most widely used. When China's firewall has upgrades, expats on /r/china on Reddit complain. However, one of the things that's remarkable about ExpressVPN is their speed in fixing problems. After a nation-wide clamp down on VPNs, they were able to get connections for their users by that evening.

When you order the app, it's similar to StrongVPN and other clients in that you can run automated tests of different servers wherever they might be on the app. This shortens downtime when you can't get through. Trying to get in touch with customer service can take some time, but if you can check yourself, you can get back online much more rapidly.

ExpressVPN has apps that work for every system, and though I don't use apple, some have said that the iOS app is especially excellent. It doesn’t connect automatically, so it doesn’t sit in the background on your phone draining the battery. It also automatically reconnects when there are lapses in service.

If you like, you can install ExpressVPN on your routers, so that all of your connected items will be unblocked at once. Neat, huh? With over 1500+ servers in 94 countries to choose from, you’ll be able to keep your internet comfortably unblocked

People usually think of VPNs as technical software for overcoming huge geo-blocks, but there are more uses than that. People in the West also use VPNs, when choosing to protect their internet traffic from restrictions, spying providers, snooping hackers, or websites looking to harvest your marketing detail leaks.

If you want to make sure that your surfing habits aren't being tracked, you need to know if your ISP is monitoring or not. ExpressVPN guards user privacy with no logs on people's data. When a company seized one of their servers to get the potential user, they found nothing. Their service is secure.

ExpressVPN is more expensive plan than many of the other VPN service options that available out there, though many would say that the price tag is worth the extra reliability. It's a good deal, the price usually isn't very high anyway.

Even if you don't plan to be visiting China for an extended period, you probably still should invest in a VPN just for privacy and security, if these things are important to you. Not only will you have these benefits, but you can also use the VPN to check out libraries in different countries. Let's say you're studying Japanese. You can use a VPN service to watch Japan Netflix and prepare for a trip to Japan.

In China, you’ll never have to be nervous about not having your favorite platforms when using ExpressVPN. You’ll never have to worry about receiving a message on Facebook or Whatsapp and not being able to respond. You’ll start making full updates on Instagram, catch your subscriptions on Whatsapp, YouTube, Twitter, Line, iPlayer, view your favorite shows, and be able to open your Gmail. What’s not to like?

Astrill is probably the second single most popular VPN choice among expats in China, but some say that its connectivity can be a bit spotty in comparison to other vpn services.

Speed: 4-6 Mbps

Best Protocol: OpenWeb or IPsec (Has a paid stealth mode)

Fastest: US-China Optimized 1-4

Perhaps the reason that this isn’t as widely revered as some other VPNs is because of its notoriety. The China firewall targets their servers in an attempt to control the flow of information.

Still, Astrill is still a viable choice for most users. They say that the OpenWeb mode is still relatively fast. They also have a service upgrade to VIP which allows you to use particular servers. It runs at a low price, only $10 a month, from January to March. If network speed is important to you because you want to stream videos. There's something you might want to check in to. This service comes with a kill switch to protect sensitive data from transmission. 

Mobile Devices: People say that the Astrill app has had service issues in the past. On iOS, it uses an IPsec protocol.

They say that the apps have all been upgraded so they should work well on iOS devices, remaining stable and not disconnecting. You may need to restart your running connection when switching from your data to wifi, but this is pretty common with all VPNs.

Astrill is best deal for just browsing the internet and to give you necessary things like email on IE, Chrome, Safari, or Firefox. This might be good enough for some users that don't intend to do much online but use social platforms, but not watch too many streaming videos.

How to download Astrill in China: Here are links to for Astrill if your VPN service links aren’t working:

A provider of both free and paid vpn services.

3 Main: OpenVPN, IPsec, IKEv2

OS: Windows, Mac, Android, iOS

Locations: 20 Countries

Netflix Compatible: Nope

This is a Canadian VPN company and what makes it notable is that it also provides a free service.

For users concerned with privacy, they do not collect, log, or store any personal information. This is good news because it means that they aren’t selling your details.

Their free basic plan is capped at 500mb. Though that’s not a lot of data, you have an opportunity to use the app and see how you like it.

They use Open-VPN which is industry standard and started running this protocol by default. More recent iOS versions have added IPsec, providing 128-bit AES. For data authentication, they use a Diffie-Hellman key-exchange.

They also started a service called Vigilant Bear which protects your a lot of data when you’re moving between access points. Say you switch from wifi to data. VigilantBear will prevent your data from floating over an unsecured line.

They include 5 continuous connections and anonymous IP. GhostBear hides the fact you're using a VPN service when online. This can slow your connection down a bit.

Some of the drawbacks of using TB are lagging connections, depending on where you are connected. You can't torrent, but torrenting is forbidden over most large VPNs in Western countries with IP laws. They have no program for routers, only by device. Moreover, they have support via tickets only, no live chat.

NordVPN works well in Asia due to advanced systems.​

High Speed: 4.0 Mbps

Best Servers: Los Angeles

NordVPN can bypass the China firewall restrictions with ease because of its full obfuscated servers created especially for that. With apps for all the popular OS, you can get connected to the worldwide web with a clean user interface. Out of all the other VPNs on the market, we've raise the bar on privacy with their entire suite of advanced options.

NordVPN is relatively simple to configure. After you sign up for an account and submit payment, you directly for the software from either the site or the app store for mobile. Their website has details you can follow to get the VPN service set up if you need to reference them.

After installing, it’s a good idea to use the “obfuscated servers” option in advanced settings. This prevents your connection from being detected by Chinese censorship technology. Without obfuscation, you may find that the app is relatively slow.

Just like some other VPN clients out there, the software allows you to test multiple servers to find which one will show the optimized ping. If you want to use obfuscation, the number of servers you will be able to use is limited.

NordVPN has a live chat feature so that you can connect with support when you need it. I appreciate this feature. It reinforces a huge sense of relief when you're trying to get your YouTube fix, but you can't seem to connect. Nord also offers a money-back guarantee.

Remember, it's wise to get your VPN subscription set up before heading to China. It's not impossible to get an account registered while in the country. It can just be challenging, as the Great Firewall makes an effort to block VPN sign-up forms and ensure you can't visit major websites securely. Take heart though; there is no shortage of China-accessible links on this page.

If you can't get through, let me know.

NordVPN is excellent for people coming to China for business. The masking technology is valuable. This is one of the more secure VPNs for China.

When you want to opt for a small VPN located closer to the border in Hong Kong.​

Speed: 4 to 6 Mbps

Fastest Servers: San Diego

Best Protocol: PPTP

3 simultaneous connections

7-day money back guarantee

With a home in Hong Kong, these VPN providers helps users circumvent the firewall. They have software for your router, so all of your electronics can be unblocked at a time. The router service also comes with the first 3 months free.

PandaPow is great for iOS, and that's no surprise, considering the popularity of the iPhone in China. The PPTP connection is usually fast enough to suit your everyday needs. I recommend checking it out. The trial period should be enough time to determine whether this full service is right for you.

A VPN service primarily for BitTorrent. Has a good privacy policy, fast speeds, and plenty of add-ons.

Torguard is not the same thing as the Tor Project, though the two often get confused. The name is actually in reference to "BitTorrent" because that's what the service is for. If file sharing is important to you, this is likely to be your best deal. Though, it's not always necessary in China. If you want to pirate materials, and you're using a service that won't allow it, you can turn off your VPN.

Torguard accepts Credit Card, Paypal, and other payment methods.

There is a specially modified version of Firefox called Tor Brower, provided by Tor. NordVPN also provides an option to route your traffic.

Torguard is optimal for anything related to peer-to-peer services, and it is ideal for use in China. We've tried this service for one week with a money-back guarantee.

Provides unlimited bandwidth and 24/7 Customer Support

High Speeds: 3 Mbps

Fastest Servers: Hong Kong

Best Protocol: OpenVPN

Supports: iPhone, Android, Windows, MacOS, Linux, Router

Servers in 43 Countries

30-Day Money-back Guarantee

This is a Hungarian company, with servers in over 43 different countries. Their apps are usable with all of the expected OS. This service is said to score well on speed tests, and it also keeps your details safe and protected.

They work hard to create an enjoyable torrenting user-experience for their users. Some say the service can be hit or miss, with occasional dropping.

A generally good service, but not as fast as some other VPNs on the market

Provides: Standard premium PPTP VPN Service

OpenVPN/SSL included

Allows 2 connections at the same time

Servers in the US and UK

Corporate VPN Service

VPN Ninja have three choices for its service, offering plans for the year, monthly, or weekly. Unfortunately, they only have a ticketing support system. Because the company is in China, they know exactly what you need to bypass the firewall. Though it is a relatively small company, they offer servers in all the prime locations, ideally encrypted.

Was a popular choice for a VPNs before some servers started to be blocked in China.

Easy to use on mobile 

Allows up to 5 different connections on one account

Home in Hong Kong as well as the US

Your success with this service will largely depend on where you are geographically in the country. Some say their Chinese ISP blocks access to these VPN providers.

One of the things that sets Private Internet Access apart is that you can pay for it with any gift card.

This VPN is reputed to be simply the best alternative because of the customized experience for users in China. Unfortunately, it doesn't have many native apps, but Android and iOS are available. Otherwise, you can use 3^rd party software.

Has geographically different servers, allows P2P and BitTorrent. At the time of reviewing has relatively fewer servers than other big VPN companies.

3 ongoing connections, and OpenVPN support.

I do not recommend trying to save money in this way. If you want to save money, readers should cut expenses elsewhere. 

In this list, I am going to include some of the free vpn services I’ve already mentioned. If you’re going to use the service for a very short time, like the months of January though March. I recommend you use a free trial, like VyprVPN or ExpressVPN. If you like them you can stay subscribed.

These free vpn services should work in China, but if you want to do something more technical like YouTube, Twitter, or streaming Netflix, you’ll probably want better. No-charge VPNs are usually the first to get blocked, as people in China will always look for a free vpn solution before paying for a subscription. Also free VPNS are dangerous and they are not secure. It is a bad way to try and save money:

Readers guess that VPN usage is not legal, but it’s difficult to say with certainty. It is undoubtedly illegal to run an unlicensed VPN company in China or to peddle VPN software. Because most VPN servers are located outside China, this won't tend to effect travelers as much. It's what we call "a gray area." 

If you're using your VPN for political reasons the CCP wouldn't like, like discussions about human rights, then you better believe it is illegal. But just using digital social media isn't so serious.

There are consistent rumors that one day China is going to block all large VPNs for good. While I believe this is a technical capability, I'm not sure how suitable it would be for the country from an economic perspective. It isn't just Western businesses and foreigners that have a vested interest in connecting to the web and crushing all international connectivity would surely have a negative impact on commerce.

There was a rumor back in February of 2018 that the Chinese government would be blocking all unlicensed VPN operators in China for good. However, it is clear that it didn't come to pass. I suspect these suggestions are meant to spur bad actors into compliance with the authorities, just in case. There was a clear firewall restrictions adjustment in June of 2018, but most VPNs were able to reestablish connections the following day.

Any of the above mentioned VPNs should work in China. Visiting porn sites aren't special in terms of accessibility. In China, Porn is blocked because of what they refer to as "spiritual pollution." That said, my top 3 VPNs as mentioned above would work perfectly to unblock any porn site.

Well if you take a look at this list of websites blocked in China, you'll see that many things we take for granted in the West would no longer be accessible. Google is a big one.

Other important sources of information would be unreachable, and indeed no Facebook, Whatsapp, or Instagram. This looming threat has provoked no few foreigners to leave the country over the years, especially those that depend on the internet for their livelihood.

In case you don’t know what this means, your bandwidth how much content you’re allowed to download or upload per months. Most of the best vpn services listed on these reviews have unlimited bandwidth, but you can probably see why this is an important consideration.

When some VPNs has dedicated bandwidth, it usually means faster connections, but there is a limit to the number of data you can download per month.

Different VPNs make you jump through a different number of hoops to get up and running. The best vpn services will try to make things as simple as possible with just one button.

If your work in China relies on the internet, for example, if you do SEO, visit major websites, blog, or do e-commerce you're going to want decent speeds. This is why it's important to try a few different VPNs to make sure you can get simply the best speeds. It can be very frustrating to be forced to wait when updating your info.

It's worth the money to install reliable service. Most cost-free VPNs will not work all the time. If the VPN provider offers a free trial or a 30-day money-back guarantee, you can to see if it's something you want to pay for.

It’s also important to ensure the technology is secure. The encryption is what prevents third parties from intercepting your sensitive files and passwords. You don’t want to be stingy about this.

Some people might take this for granted, but some VPNs require you to download third-party apps to your devices. This can be a hassle as the configuration can be complicated, with long strings of letters and numbers you must manually enter. This is why you should look for service providers with updated apps on the Play Store or Apple Store.

Not all apps are going to work with the OS of your device. Are you using Windows? Android? iOS? You need to make sure that the software is compatible. Fortunately, the best vpn services have trials, so you have a chance to try them in advance.

Some VPNs only connect for a little while before getting timed-out. It gets annoying having to reconnect continually. Check reviews to see if you can maintain a stable connection on the VPN you choose under these conditions.

In the article above, one of the things I describe is how many servers they have in how many countries. At certain times of day, the server that might be optimal for you and your connection might change. That’s why it’s favorable that a company have operational servers in several different locations.

When using VyprVPN, it sometimes chooses Hong Kong, other times Vietnam, other times Los Angeles. If the Great Firewall blocks one of these, it’s great to have other options.

As far as what encryption you should look for, a protocol using at least the encryption should be good enough. Higher encryption like 256-bit is more secure, but slower.

The level of encryption that a service provides also is what keeps your connection secure. You wouldn’t want someone to get ahold of your personal messages, or Bitcoin keys. So this is why a weaker encryption level should only be used when necessary.

A protocol is a kind of language through which internet content is transferred to a VPN server. There are 3 predominant protocols with most VPNs.

Most VPNs will support multiple protocols on a single network. This is because the firewall will launch attacks on specific protocols, so you can switch to use other servers abroad. If your VPN supports multiple protocols, you can usually switch the setting in the client you're using.

Most vpn services use OpenVPN as it isn’t too slow, but still has a layer of protection. It’s also compatible with most OS. These days, when the Chinese firewall detects OpenVPN connections, they’ll throttle the connection. This means a lot of data will fluctuate so drastically that it will be almost unusable. I've dealt with this for years

To add a second layer of protection, look for things such as:

It's a virtual private network that gives you a different IP address to access the web. When the web sees your connection has a new address, it allow you to access the region-blocked content. Check out this post which explains which sites are blocked in China. It will break it down in detail for you. Imagine not being able to access these services. Not a rosy picture, is it?

Some VPNs are free, but they are not recommended, as they are potentially harmful and they could come with adware or viruses. Don't install these.

Most paid VPNs range between $5 to $15 a months. Most companies have yearly subscriptions. If you’re going to stay in China for a full year, might as well. Yearly subs run around $55 to over $100 a year. Not too expensive.

You can use your VPN anywhere there is the internet. In China, most places will have wifi, and you can connect without incurring a lot of charges.

For Android: Open VPN

For iOS: IPSec

Desktop: OpenVPN with a layer of protection, including SSH, or technology.

PPTP is not recommended as the security has been shown to be weak.

A VPN encrypts all traffic between your machine and another server with a new address. Proxies are network protection methods for your internet browser (Safari, Chrome, Firefox, etc.) Proxies are said to be faster for surfing the web, but for other purposes like torrenting and third-party apps, it is not advisable.

It’s difficult to say without knowing your exact situation, but just so you know, if the Chinese government wants to turn off all VPNs, they can. And there isn’t anything you can do about it. Sometimes, during special political events, they have turned off VPNs and made it very difficult to connect.

If you're having issues, contact the support team that provides your VPN. Usually what I would do is use the VPN client to run a test across all of the servers in their employ. If I don't see good ping from any of them, it's a problem, and it might not be one that can be fixed.

That’s a part of the risk of living in China.

It depends. The two factors to consider are high latency and download/upload speeds.

Latency has to do with how much time it takes for the VPN server to transfer a lot of data to your computer. Distances and poor connections impair latency. You need low latency to play video games, talk on Skype, or any other kind of video streaming. 

Speeds usually relate to the distance between your computer and the internet backbone of your internet provider. In China's big players are China Unicom, China Mobile, and China Telecom. Some VPN providers offer a service that's very near to China such as servers in Hong Kong or on the West Coast. These should provide better bandwidth.

Yes, China usually allows the outside world to see its media with a new address, but has reservations about allowing the population access to the rest of the world. With these policies, Astrill still has VPN servers in China if that’s your intent.

It’s an open-source proxy that can be used in a similar way to a VPN. It tunnels and encrypts traffic, masks your IP and allows you to visit censored major websites.

Shadowsocks is making it more difficult for Chinese internet providers to detect. The thing to keep in mind is that because it’s a proxy, you might have challenges trying to use it with 3^rd party apps or on your phone or laptop.

Shadowsocks is still a popular among China's technically savvy people. You can download tools to set up your server today.

Instead of using a VPN, I would recommend a Chinese tunneling service for that exact purpose. If you like to play online games including MMOs from home, there is an app called lonlife.cn and you can use their premade game profiles to connect directly with gaming servers in the West with low ping. Note that you can't use it and a VPN to play at the same time. The service works.

Readers feel that having a VPN reduces the anxiety that comes with being in an alien country and especially one as authoritarian with many restrictions. Get your VPN subscription set up before you come to the country if possible.

If you’re in China and using a VPN, please let me know how fast your VPN is working. In the comments below leave your city/province, and your speeds with and without a VPN. Readers can check with speedtest.net.