The Great Firewall of China regulates the censorship laws in China. This year some changes have been made which has made the rules even more strict. But this does not stop the Chinese public to come up with creative ways to go around the laws. And VPNs have become one of the most popular ways to do so.
Many VPNs providers are available in China, but not all of them are successful in providing continuous service. So, here’s a detailed list of top 5 VPNs for China.
ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN is the most popular among the VPN users. It provides top-notch services and is the most reliable. ExpressVPN offers satisfactory services to its users around the globe. It may be pricey, but the services that you get are all worth it.
They provide 24/7 customer service, a 99.9% uptime guarantee, numerous server locations, and super-fast speed. ExpressVPN is secure and will never fail to amaze you.
| ✅ OpenVPN with a 256-bit encryption setting | ✅ No caps on speed or bandwidth usage |
| ✅ 2000+ servers in 78 countries | ✅ Server uptime of 99.99% |
| ✅ Specialized anti-DDoS mechanism | ✅ 160 server locations |
CyberGhost
One of the most attractive features of CyberGhost is the number of devices that it covers. Be it Android, iOS, or Linux device, and you will get reliable services from CyberGhost. You can also use the services on five devices at the same time.
Privacy is essential to CyberGhost. Thus it ensures that no logs of your activities are collected. So, no matter what it will never have any information to share as the data doesn’t get collected.
| ✅ Access blocked websites | ✅ Enjoy safe P2P torrenting |
| ✅ Unblock streaming services | ✅ Stream sporting events |
| ✅ Play region-locked games | ✅ Get better deals online |
NordVPN
NordVPN is one of the most secure providers. Maintaining privacy is its priority. It also accepts the bitcoin payment method and has a zero-logging policy. The encryption is reliable and super strong.
It supports the Obfsproxy technology that efficiently works to avoid censorship barriers in China. NordVPN is one of the most favorable options for China.
| ✅ Zero or no logging experience | ✅ No caps on speed or bandwidth usage |
| ✅ OpenVPN with a 2048-bit strong encryption setting | ✅ Works great for online tournaments |
| ✅ Anti-DDoS servers are specially configured | ✅ 24/7 Customer support |
ZenMate
Not many users have heard the name of ZenMate, but that doesn’t make it any less secure. This VPN provider offers powerful privacy settings that keep your information completely safe. It has its own private servers that make it even more resilient.
It passes the data through TSL, which is industry-grade encryption. ZenMate also has some attractive features like proxy extensions for browsers, tracking protection, and good pricing brackets.
| ✅ Anonymous VPN | ✅ Available for all devices |
| ✅ Unblock streaming content | ✅ Stream live sports |
| ✅ Kill switch | ✅ 74+ Locations |
PureVPN
PureVPN provides an optimal connection as it has servers in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong. It offers a money-back guarantee policy that makes it even more reliable.
It gives resilient services to its users with impressive perks like parental controls, web filtering, and app blockers. It also has split tunneling that lets the user decide about the traffic that can pass through the VPN.
| ✅ Secure Wi-Fi | ✅ Multi login |
| ✅ DNS leak protection | ✅ Split tunneling |
| ✅ 256 Bit encryption | ✅ P2P VPN |
Understanding The Great Firewall Of China
The Great Firewall Of China is a surveillance program that is unofficially run by the People’s Republic of China. It is a subdivision of the larger Golden Shield Project and controls the censorship laws in China.
It has the responsibility to administer the websites and applications that can be used by the Chinese Public. Any content that is unfavorable to the political message maintained by the Chinese government is censored. The aim is to block Chinese society from getting any foreign information to maintain the national culture and ideas.
The Great Firewall Of China controls the internet and mobile outlets by limiting its access to foreign influences. The world-famous search tool like Google and social media platforms like Facebook and messaging apps like WhatsApp are forbidden in China. Several restrictions are placed upon the usage of any foreign product.
Some ways that are used to limit access to unwanted sites are:
- IP blocking is implemented so that access to specified IP addresses is denied.
- DNS filtering and redirection is used to return the incorrect IP address effectively.
- URL filtering is used to browse through the URL for specific keywords, and if they ping, the website gets blocked for browsing.
- Packet filtering is used in detecting keywords.
- Connection blocks.
Learn More About The Latest Updates on the 2020 China VPN Ban
For so many decades, the government of China has been efficiently attempting to censor materials. The Chinese government announced that in the early period of 2020 that the usage of all VPN services will be blocked in China.
But it is supposed to be a big problem as these claims have been made by the government before to suppress the public. But no matter what, the Chinese public always finds a way to continue using the services.
The Chinese public is not the only one that makes use of the benefits of a resilient VPN service. EXPATs, vacationers, world travelers who don’t want to miss out on their favorite TV shows use these VPN services to continue watching their favorite internet channels and shows.
Choosing The Best VPN For China
While everyone wants the most resilient and secure VPN service with all of the latest features, affordable and super fast speed with privacy controls. But it isn’t possible to have everything. So, some of the essential factors that you must consider while choosing the best VPN for China are:
Blocked Websites In China
It is surprising to know that the Chinese government is blocking many websites and smart device applications.
Here’s a list of some famous sites that are not accessible while traveling in China without a VPN:
- Social media platforms like Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram;
- Several Movie and TV series sites like Netflix, Vimeo, and YouTube;
- Most Google products such as Gmail, Google.com, and Google Plus;
- Western news media stations like the New York Times, The Independent, and Le Monde;
- Several local news channels like SBS Radio and New Tang Dynasty Television are blocked;
- Sharing sites like Flickr, Mega, and Periscope;
- Instant messaging services like Whatsapp;
- Spirituality sites such as Minghui, Falun Dafa;
- The Pirate Bay;
- Pornography websites;
- Chinese Wikipedia.
Is Using VPN Legal in China?
If you are just traveling to China, or if you do not want to get into trouble over a Facebook account, then you probably wish using VPNs are illegal in China. It is not unlawful to use a VPN in China.
The Chinese government doesn’t outlaw the services of VPNs. They will block the websites, and make sure to censor the websites that are restricted. If you are using a VPN to get access to the banned sites, then it is not illegal.
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