What is the Best VPN to get whilst on your travels in China

This blog post is all about what is the best VPN to use whilst in China or on your travels around China. I’ve found it difficult to locate good advice on what one to go with specifically for China as not all VPN software work well for this country as they before harder to use. I’ll explain in detail now why I went with my choice.

First of all: Is a VPN needed?

The simple answer is, yes!

Running a blog, it was very important for me to always be connected in order to publish social media posts and share the beauty of China whilst on my travels.

As well as other important tasks such as checking emails from time to time (Many Email providers are also blocked in China).

It was almost a lifeline in some cases, I’m sure you can relate!

After all a connection is like oxygen to bloggers and I’m sure if your reading this you understand the importance of always being connected to!

Websites currently blocked in China

China pretty much blocks every single important popular website in the west.

– Facebook
– Twitter
– YouTube
– Google search
– Google translate
– Google maps
– Gmail
– Instagram
– Yahoo
– Snapchat
– Amazon
– Flickr
– BBC iPlayer

I went to China with my most popular VPN service, which I still Love and use all around the world to Stream UK TV shows, but sadly it, let me down in China as the government have cottoned on to many companies that host VPN software and started to block many of the popular ones. However I did find one that worked really well in China.

Which VPN would you recommend for travellers in China?

Express VPN is my go to VPN of choice for China.

The good thing about express VPN is its purposely built from the ground up to work specifically for China.

It’s probably one of the very rare VPN service providers that allow you to download and install on your devices whilst in China itself.

Which I did happen to do by the way as Tunnel Bear sadly wasn’t working.

Many of my friends who had already travelled to China before in fact warned about downloading a VPN before entering China for this very reason.

Some helpful tips on Using Express VPN.

Always Connect your VPN to Hong Kong 2 as it seemed to pick up the best connection from China.

If the connection is not so great jump over to Singapore 2 instead.

Normally doing this will give you a solid connection. I noticed that sometimes one or the other was better, see what works best for you.

Running a VPN will drain your battery quickly

Running a VPN on your phone in China around the clock will dramatically drain your battery.

Carry an extra additional external battery to ensure you have enough power juice throughout the day.

A few moments on my trip my phone died because I was running Express VPN all the time. This is common sense, of course, just wanted to give you a heads up.

VPN works fine on a 4G signal

Many China SIM card providers offer a 4G connection these days. I managed to get a 2GB monthly deal for around £5 which hardly cost me anything.

It’s best to use the Express VPN app, connect first before turning on the app.

Once you have a solid connection you can check by looking at Bing (Bing has its own china version) Then connect using the app.

Best of luck with your VPN in China!

It doesn’t have to be a struggle! Invest in a good fully working VPN and you won’t even notice that popular websites are even blocked at all.

If like me, you need to be connected, VPN Express is a perfect solution to solving this problem and getting around the Chinese firewall.

Looking for further advice about Best VPN for China, feel free to check out my friends blog Adventures around Asia who goes more in depth.

Thank you for reading this blog post and if you have any further questions, do ask in the comment section below and I will be happy to answer for you.

Most importantly, wishing you a safe and happy trip to China!

If you happen to be after some general advice on China, I’ve put together a fun and helpful post on 10 first timer tips for China, Enjoy!