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Key Takeaways:
What Is the Best VPN for China?
- Surfshark — Best VPN for China
- Astrill VPN — Most reliable China VPN
- CyberGhost — Largest global server network
- Proton VPN — Extra user privacy with Secure Core servers
- Windscribe — Fastest VPN for China
- Mullvad — Bypasses VPN restrictions with double obfuscation
- NordVPN — Robust security with double VPN
Facts & Expert Analysis From the Article:
The general consensus among VPN users in China is that Astrill VPN is the most reliable option. However, it’s an incredibly expensive VPN, so it’s worth trying other cheaper options first. Surfshark is our top choice for best VPN for China as it has a solid reputation for working in the country while also offering affordable plans. Other good options for China include CyberGhost, Proton VPN, Widscribe and Mullvad. NordVPN is also an option, but it’s not as reliable in China as the other six, so we only recommend it if you already have an account.
Since VPNs are in a running battle with censorship, we recommend subscribing to multiple VPNs to ensure you have coverage at all times. No matter which VPNs you use, make sure you download them before going to China, as the download pages are often blocked.
China is among the countries with the heaviest internet censorship. As much as 95% of the country uses one of four state-owned internet service providers, like China Unicom, with few options for independent ISPs. The government decides which sites people can visit and can see what they’re up to. It goes without saying that using the best VPN for China is a basic necessity if you value your privacy.
Another major problem with the internet in China is speed bottlenecks due to poor network infrastructure. The government doesn’t allow independent ISPs to operate, and licensed ISPs like China Telecom and China Mobile can’t efficiently handle the needs of more than one billion subscribers. Additionally, due to the Great Firewall, you may also experience slow speeds when you open non-Chinese websites.
Though the virtual private networks listed below are reliable in different capacities, they are not always guaranteed to work due to the intense nature of VPN censorship in China. The Chinese government bans VPNs that don’t meet its unreasonable requirements, like the insane demand to provide the government with backdoor access so it can snoop on users. Any VPN provider faces a constant battle with bypassing the Great Firewall. Our official recommendation is that visitors use at least three VPNs. Don’t worry, though; there are workarounds you can use whenever you hit a brick wall while living in or visiting China. We’ll go over those tricks to help you evade China’s internet censorship.
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Learn more about our editorial team and our research process.
11/19/2021 Cloudwards has updated the post to include Surfshark — a relatively new yet reliable VPN for China — and VyprVPN, which used to be an honorable mention.
09/24/2023 We’ve reduced the list of VPNs to five candidates, added two honorable mentions, and provided reasons to use a China VPN for expats.
02/16/2024 Facts checked
Rewrote to ensure that each VPN actually works in China. updates
Cloudwards Editor’s Choice: Surfshark VPN
On top of ranking highly on our fastest VPN list, Surfshark has one important feature for visitors who need a VPN while in China: obfuscation. It works automatically on the OpenVPN protocol, making your VPN tunnel look like a regular internet connection to anyone investigating. This makes it much less likely (though not impossible) that China will block your traffic.
Surfshark has more than 3,200 servers in 100 countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Australia, South Africa and Brazil. You’re virtually guaranteed to be able to unblock geo-restricted sites like Netflix, Hulu or the BBC from most parts of China. Of greater interest — and a big reason why Surfshark tops this list — is the server in Macau SAR China that can work for Chinese citizens abroad. The only other VPN software that comes close to this is CyberGhost.
NoBorders mode is another vital security feature that automatically detects network restrictions to provide you with a list of servers that are best suited to circumventing the VPN blocks. Add on the RAM-only servers and the strict no-logs policy and you can start to see why Surfshark is our editor’s choice. We’ll share more on what it can and can’t do later on.
How to Choose the Best China VPN
The list of VPN providers that work in China is very limited. We considered the following factors when making our selection.
Obfuscation: This was the most important factor we considered. VPN use is monitored in China in multiple ways, and the best way to avoid trouble is to use a VPN with obfuscation to make your VPN traffic look like regular traffic.
User security: Standard encryption like AES-256 or an equivalent is the first defense against any type of surveillance in China. Security features like a kill switch (for IP leak protection) and split tunneling (for encrypting specific traffic) are equally important.
Unblocking capability: China has blocked practically every website from Western countries. This includes social media sites, streaming services and major websites like CNN. You can only access these sites by using VPNs with a large server network in locations outside China. The more VPNs at your service, the better.
Connection speeds: Since many people use VPN services to watch their favorite shows and movies, reliable and stable connection speeds are important. VPN apps should be able to handle at the very least SD streaming without buffering.
Device compatibility: The VPN should be compatible with devices that people use every day, like Android, iOS, macOS, Windows and Linux. The number of simultaneous device connections allowed is also important — you want to be able to immediately switch between devices.
Price: Finally, since we suggest having an arsenal of VPNs for China, we wanted to make sure most options were affordable. Though Astrill did make the list due to its reliability in China, the price is way too high for many people.
The 7 Best VPNs for China
For each VPN, we will look at the security features that make it work in China and whether the server networks can access blocked content. We will also conduct hands-on testing to see what makes each provider tick. Read on to find out more.
- Surfshark — Best VPN for China
- Has a server in Macau, China
- Unblocks content worldwide
- Offers obfuscation
- Obfuscation can slow down speeds
Surfshark has a server in Macau, a Chinese administrative region.
Pros:
Cons:
Surfshark is equipped with more than 3,200 VPN servers in 100 countries. Though it doesn’t have a server in mainland China, you can connect to servers in Macau SAR China (virtual), Taiwan or Hong Kong. These are the three closest servers you can use to unblock streaming sites like Netflix.
Surfshark also provides users with MultiHop servers for double encryption. One of these servers routes your traffic through Hong Kong and Singapore, making it twice as hard for Chinese authorities to track you. You don’t have to worry about your VPN use being flagged either. Surfshark has a reliable obfuscation feature called “camouflage mode” that makes your connection look like regular internet traffic. The feature runs automatically across all devices when you switch to an OpenVPN protocol (UDP or TCP) and is necessary to bypass the Great Firewall.
All Surfshark servers are RAM only, so your browsing history will never see the light of day since it is wiped clean at certain intervals. NoBorders mode automatically shows you the best servers to use when you’re on a heavily government-restricted network. Surfshark’s speeds are also among the best; you can read how it achieves those in our Surfshark review.
Surfshark Hands-On Testing
You can access all Surfshark functions in the app settings. Navigating the Surfshark app is easy even for first-time users. All the servers are displayed alphabetically with clear labels that separate virtual servers from physical ones. You can activate the kill switch and NoBorders mode in the…
