We've already discussed as unthread. I don't find it especially hard to set up, and I find the performance (using a rack space server) comparable to express hk4, but my costs are actually higher (I use a lot of data). Express has honestly never completely failed me, though some of their servers are less than stellar.

I was just in Beijing over the past week, and I used ExpressVPN with no problems.

I was in Beijing and Shanghai last month. ExpressVPN worked well for both my Iphone and Macbook.

Not true anymore. Nordvpn has an option for obfuscated that works pretty well (I also turn on TCP), though I understand they don't have this for Apple products (I use Windows, Android).
Sometimes it takes a while to connect though, quite a few tries.

It isn't fast, but Nordvpn was never fast for me anyway.

NordVPN works fine. It actually the best have tested.

Data point: China updated their firewall, it's messing with VPNs.

After some chat time with their tech support they got me back up with a new client on my desktop. My phone, however, did not come back up on WiFi after that, but it worked correctly on Sprint global roaming (the low-speed free version at least, I didn't try the paid version.)

I used Express VPN last month and had no issues, I was able to get everything.

ADVChina (Winston Sterzel and Matthew Tye) just did a video talking about VPNs.

Their chat support is quite good, and has never failed to set me straight. They will advise you of servers to try in your region (e.g. in Shanghai, I have the best luck with HK4 and HK5, but in Beijing, LA3 is often better), and possibly tell you to adjust your settings. IME, Android is their least stable product, but this too is working well for me now.

No VPN works fast and stable in China. The government know you are using a VPN. They allow you to use VPN temporary such as check your emails. Once they detected you use a VPN for a long time, they will kill the connection.

PM me if you just visit China for a short period, and I can help you to get Facebook online.

Dead wrong. I've been using a VPN without problems for some time. That is, some do work.

If that were the case there wouldn't be issues with them upgrading the firewall and making the existing setup not work.

Fortunately this statement is completely wrong.

Just not true. Don't want to be a shill for ExpressVPN but it works like a champ, albeit a little costly at 100 USD per year. I was having some difficulty connecting last month and thought maybe they were having some troubles. Got on a support chat they asked me to sign out of my account and sign back in again on my devices. Worked just fine after that. My Chinese co-workers have found some free VPNs working now after the big shutdown last year. They're back on twitter and facebook again.