Thanks, I will start there. What do you think of the idea of needing to sign up with several in case of blocks? (Once you're there, it's pretty much too late.)

I already have one VPN, HotspotShield, to use over high-risk public wi-fi networks like cafes and airports here in the U.S., not sure if it works in China.

Express has never been completely blocked, to the best of my knowledge. While it's obviously easier to kick off things outside of China, signing up in China is also doable.

I don't understand this. VPNs are for several purposes:
1) Securing private data from a device in transit to a private network, over a public network
2) For bypassing firewalls
3) For protecting anonymity (from your ISP or from the websites you're visiting)

They are NOT for protecting data that goes over the public internet. If you are transmitting your data in such a way that it can be stolen, all the VPN does is push the point at which the data can be stolen from the coffee shop to after it leaves your VPN provider's network. You should use end-to-end encryption for all of your data that you care about, and in that case, it does not matter whether you are using a VPN.

It is always good to have multiple VPNs whenever you go into China. On my next trip, I will likely have:
1) OpenVPN to home server
2) Shadowsocks to home server
3) SSH tunnel to home server
4) ExpressVPN
5) VPN.ac
6) Psiphon
7) TOR
8) HK SIM card
9) AT&T SIM card

Overkill? Probably. But I'd rather have more VPNs than I need than need more VPNs than I have...

You really only need a single VPN. I can assure you that Express works well in Shanghai, and pretty well in Beijing. And, if you get a HK sim, you don't need a VPN. Tor is a waste of time these days.

That is complete overkill. One or two VPNs is enough. ExpressVPN and VPN.AC is a good combination. Actually one is enough but two is better if you are looking for the best speed and latency. TOR doesn't work in China unless you are running it through a VPN. VPN+TOR is very slow so not recommended unless you have a specific need for it (dark web). As for SIM cards I recommend the China Unicom "cross border king dual extra". It has reasonably priced data packages. http://www.cugstore.com/hk_en/prepai...vice-plus.html. I'm not sure about AT&T data roaming rates but probably much more expensive.

If you are looking for further information on VPNs please check my website www.tipsforchina.com. There is lots of information as well as promo codes, discounts, etc.

News article re VPN China in SCMP Sept 4 2017
 

I would expect all VPN's to be under even more pressure at least through Beijing regional ISP's, as we approach the Party Congress that starts on Oct 18. Internet security tends to get a lot tighter and some websites that are normally not blocked, may be.

Have Plan B's and Plan C's ready to deploy.

The crackdown on VPNs seems to be intensifying. Best to use a VPN provider based outside of China, some of which are still working very well.

I've got a CMHK SIM at the ready in case my preferred VPN fails or becomes too slow. HK$48 a day if I need a lot, HK$198 for 2GB/30 days otherwise, and HK$300 becomes HK$415 credit, which is a nice bonus.

That's a good idea. I used to use a prepaid one from CUHK that worked quite well. I think the data was HK $68 for 500MB (valid for 30 days) if I recall correctly. The data could be used freely between HK, Macau, and mainland. The SIM card had both an HK number and a China number, incoming calls were free in both HK and China.

I have one of these dual number three region account $160HK/month, unlimited calling, SMS and 6g of LTE /4G (SIM). The data traffic is roamed through the HK server. I use it as my personal business is run on G-Suite. It is also handy for not having to download google maps. Baidu map is better but there is too much spam from them once you use their maps.

HKers have this to use their Gmail account and broadcast on social media to show their friends how much fun they are having dining and shopping in China.