Great Firewall of China
Jun 27, 2019, 1:50 am
#1
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Join Date: Apr 2019
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Great Firewall of China
Hello, I'm traveling to China for a few months or maybe even more and I've heard about the Great Firewall of China. I need to access Facebook and a few different sites for work purposes, so I think that I need a VPN. And there are so many! I am thinking about Nord, Express or Surfshark, the last one is the cheapest so I am leaning to it. So anyway, what are your thoughts? Do you use anything?
Jun 27, 2019, 3:01 am
#2
Join Date: Jun 2019
Posts: 24
I'm afraid we don't have many options for VPN in China. Can't speak for the other two, but the last time I was there I used ExpressVPN and everything worked as expected. Found it easy to use and I could connect three of my devices without any problems.
Jun 27, 2019, 3:10 am
#3
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Location: Shanghai
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Hello, I'm traveling to China for a few months or maybe even more and I've heard about the Great Firewall of China. I need to access Facebook and a few different sites for work purposes, so I think that I need a VPN. And there are so many! I am thinking about Nord, Express or Surfshark, the last one is the cheapest so I am leaning to it. So anyway, what are your thoughts? Do you use anything?
Jun 27, 2019, 10:21 am
#4
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 2,916
Here's a link to VPNs that MAY work in China. It's a spotty thing at best and most vloggers do advise that...
https://www.techradar.com/news/best-...-5-top-choices
That said, if you have a spare computer at home, maybe set up something with teamviewer or anydesk that you can remote into. Also, set up a hotmail or yahoo email address so you can transfer files back and forth. Google related services will not work and with spotty VPN coverage, you should have a backup.
https://www.techradar.com/news/best-...-5-top-choices
That said, if you have a spare computer at home, maybe set up something with teamviewer or anydesk that you can remote into. Also, set up a hotmail or yahoo email address so you can transfer files back and forth. Google related services will not work and with spotty VPN coverage, you should have a backup.
Jun 27, 2019, 5:26 pm
#5
Moderator: Travel Safety/Security, Travel Tools, California, Los Angeles; FlyerTalk Evangelist
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In the China forum:
Jun 27, 2019, 6:49 pm
#6
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I would suggest getting a data SIM in Hong Kong that also works in China - you can use your phone as a hotspot, or get two SIM cards and buy an unlocked hotspot to use as a home router plus your phone. The data will route through Hong Kong and will not be censored.
Jun 27, 2019, 6:55 pm
#7
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A lot of my friends do the HK thing, but a local SIM plus express works pretty well, as long as you optimize.
Jun 28, 2019, 3:22 am
#8
Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 11
Hello, I'm traveling to China for a few months or maybe even more and I've heard about the Great Firewall of China. I need to access Facebook and a few different sites for work purposes, so I think that I need a VPN. And there are so many! I am thinking about Nord, Express or Surfshark, the last one is the cheapest so I am leaning to it. So anyway, what are your thoughts? Do you use anything?
Jun 28, 2019, 11:31 am
#9
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Jun 28, 2019, 3:13 pm
#10
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Jun 30, 2019, 9:08 am
#11
Join Date: Jan 2015
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Commercial VPNs are pretty responsive these days. You might experience a bit of a slowdown, but not much (maybe 5% if at all). My concern with a VPN (at least with phones and tablets) is that they run down the battery faster. Getting a SIM card to route through HK would bypass that issue...
Jul 1, 2019, 7:52 am
#12
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Personally, I use VyprVPN using their Chameleon protocol when I'm in China... it's the one my company IT recommends for employees travelling to China, and I've never had an issue with that being blocked by the GFW.
Jul 1, 2019, 10:19 am
#13
Join Date: Mar 2004
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Did not have much luck with Nord in China - very, very difficult to get a connection and sometimes it didn't work at all, either on computer or Android
Jul 2, 2019, 5:55 pm
#14
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Firstly, not all hotels are equal, some hotels have their own solutions, by routing their traffic through HKG for example. This is not something that they advertise, but is something that you can ask before checking in. Secondly, it is my understanding that the HK SIm thing referenced above is NOT currently working in China.
Jul 3, 2019, 2:24 am
#15
Join Date: May 2006
Location: YYZ
Posts: 731
Firstly, not all hotels are equal, some hotels have their own solutions, by routing their traffic through HKG for example. This is not something that they advertise, but is something that you can ask before checking in. Secondly, it is my understanding that the HK SIm thing referenced above is NOT currently working in China.