I think that we put a little too much emphasis on the VPN requirement. If you don't need access to your work email/crm during your stay, you will survive. Sure, you'll need to rely on Bing instead of Google for web searches and you won't have AI apps, but this is manageable.

Just get your Chinese apps loaded before your trips, if you want peace of mind. The process isn't so easy these days because you won't find many of them in Google Play or iCloud.

At a minimum, install and configure WeChat and Alipay.
Opinion: without Alipay and Wechat Pay, you are screwed in Shanghai

You'll probably also want a decent map app. We have a dedicated thread on this topic too:
Google maps not workingfor public transit ? - urgent

I would also say the dimensions of this are different if you're using an Apple iOS or Android.

I would agree with the suggestion above for Apple devices, just pivoting to use bing rather than Google and no hard dependencies on gmail or other western social media, and a few apps pre installed is survivable. If you have a roaming SIM or eSIM then all the friction will go away.

But Android devices that are using the Google play store (virtually all Android devices purchased outside of China) are much more hobbled if they have no access to Google services in China. So some kind of method to keep it connected to Google - preferably a roaming SIM or eSIM for simplicity and no messing around with VPNs - is more important on Android than it is on iOS in my opinion.

I heavily disagree with the �too much emphasis on VPN requirement� bit of this. It�s not just work email. When I travel, basically all my reservations are in my gmail account. If I don�t have access to that, and something like a flight change occurs, I may not be notified. If there is a cancellation, I won�t be able to rebook myself. It is significantly easier for people to just use an eSIM with a VPN (like a HK-based one, Trip.com sells many for super cheap) than completely change the websites they use and lock themselves out of their emails and number of other common programs.

And here is an example of possible confusion....

When using an eSIM (or other foreign SIM) with roaming in China already unblocks your access to the internet - your internet connection is tunnelled back to the home network of the SIM/eSIM you are using and you are no longer restricted by the great firewall. You can access Google services and anything else normally restricted.

You don't need a VPN as well as roaming SIM/eSIM unless you need a VPN for other purposes.

I maintain that with the advent of eSIMs it's very much easier for occasional travellers to China to use these. It's not expensive for short term trips and is set and forget.

For ongoing more permanent life in China prolonged use of an eSIM with a need for decent amount of data to access your favourite media and stream may become less cost optimised and a VPN may be worth considering.

I've actually never owned an iPhone, but most of my friends have them, so I'm somewhat familiar with the pains they experience finding apps.

My previous Androids were Huaweis. In spite of their superior tech, those things became progressively hard to use with western apps over time. On the other hand, the app gallery had every Chinese app you can imagine.

Now, I'm using a One Plus, which is pretty close to stock Android. Even though Google Play doesn't have any Chinese apps. sideloading is pretty easy. You just need to go to the official website of each app company and download the APK. I advise people to do this before heading to China because it's a bit of a hunting expedition if you want 8-10 apps.

Re VPNs, for me, I absolutely have to have one that works well all the time because my work entails accessing numerous databases in the US. Hotel and office wifi connections are typically far more stable for me than phone tethering, so it wouldn't matter if I had a roaming SIM or not.

But, if you're just here as a tourist, I think Chinese apps alone are sufficient for having a good trip. Just forward all emails you care about to an email address you can access.

I have multiple email accounts and for anything that I would need access to in mainland China, I just use my Outlook account which is not affected. There is life without Google, believe it or not.

When I reserve with mainland Chinese hotels and airlines directly, they don't even send an email anymore, which is fine. I just keep the SMS and data handy in the mini-programme, works out fine.

Only thing I use VPN when I travel there is Instagram, and I'm not even a social media person, it's just there are some people that I use Instagram chat/messenger for (I don't impose Weixin/Wechat on them).

I don't either. Whether or not the security risks are real, I've simply given up trying to evangelize for WeChat. So, I use WhatsApp, Line, and Google Voice (SMS) to stay in touch with most people back home. All of these require VPN (or a roaming SIM). That having been said, being unable to use them for a week or two wouldn't be the end of the world.

Forwarding your emails to an accessible account is not sufficient. If an airline emails you about a flight change or cancellation, you may be out of luck. You�d have to set up forwarding to the non-Google email for basically everything. Easier to just use a VPN or an eSIM.

Sure, but for the two billion Gmail users, Gmail is basically a necessity. Anything I book through an airline is going to be tied to my Gmail automatically, and I have a number of accounts that require Gmail 2FA on a semi-regular basis. Is it really worth the risk? An eSIM costs a few dollars a day at most.

Okay. Upon further reflection, I am willing to concede that the VPN is also kind of important for me, even if I exclude work related matters from the calculus because, like you, I rely on the entire Google ecosystem.

HOWEVER, A$T didn't work on my Huawei last year (and I still don't think they support Chinese Android derivatives very well), yet the Huawei still served me quite well, so I know it's possible to get by without a VPN just like the billion+ Chinese people who don't have VPNs. You can eat, pay for stuff, ride subways, get cars, rent bikes, know where you're going, etc.

You seem to be fixated on the flight changes only being sent to gmail issue. This one is super easy to resolve from multiple angles, the easiest of which is to provide a non-gmail email address. But, if you don't want to do that, go into gmail and set up some filters that forward all emails from ba.com, united.com, etc. to a yahoo address. Or, just check your flight status on the airline apps/websites.

My CX account is by default linked to Gmail but when I bought the ticket, I also input my Outlook email and my chinese phone number. When there was a slight schedule change, the notification was sent to all the addreses and phone numbers I had put in during the reservation process.

Honestly during my recent trip, I only needed the VPN occasionally for the aforementioned chat with social media. But to each his/her own I guess, I just try not to put all my eggs in one basket like Google services.

No VPN needed with foreign SIM cards unless you are on WiFi. Your data cap and throttling on AT&T will be the same as it is at home. I have the Unlimited Premium so I won't be throttled no matter how much I use, if I use the AT&T International Day Pass. Note that if your billing cycle resets in the middle of your trip you'd pay for more than 10 days, even if your trip itself is less than 1 month.

I was using an esim and also tried tethering off someone else's local Sim carrier. I cannot get some miniapps to load on my s25. Mostly food delivery like meituan/Taobao. Main page loads but once I try to navigate within the mini app I keep getting a no connection error. Anyone had issues like this? Also tried with/without A and same issue.

Try using the full featured apps for services that you use often.