Plan · Connectivity
Internet and the Great Firewall
Mainland China's internet does not include Google, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, X/Twitter, WhatsApp, most Western news sites or many cloud services. Plan for it before you arrive — it is far harder to fix from inside.
What is blocked
In mainland China, you cannot reach (without a VPN): - Google search, Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube, Drive, all Google services - Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger - X (Twitter) - Most major Western news sites (NYT, WSJ, Bloomberg, Reuters, BBC, The Guardian intermittently) - Wikipedia (Chinese-language version blocked; English-language access varies) - Many SaaS tools (Slack often unstable, Notion blocked, Dropbox blocked, GitHub Pages intermittent, Discord blocked) - Most VPN provider websites (you'll need to install before arrival)
What works without a VPN: - Bing, DuckDuckGo - Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Office, Teams) - Apple iCloud - LinkedIn (with caveats) - Most banking apps from foreign banks - Booking.com, Expedia, Airbnb
VPN reality
VPN use by individuals in China is in a legally grey area. The state blocks the websites of most major VPN providers, which is why you must install before arrival. Enforcement against tourists is essentially zero. The technical reality: many VPNs work, some struggle, the situation changes month to month. The pattern most expats use: install two different paid VPNs as redundancy, plus consider Astrill or ExpressVPN-class commercial services that maintain dedicated infrastructure for the China market.
We don't name specific VPNs because the recommendable list shifts as services get blocked.
Roaming SIM as alternative
Roaming on your home-country SIM in China typically does NOT route through the Great Firewall — your home network's backhaul is overseas, so Google, Facebook etc work normally. This is the simplest workaround for short trips. Drawback: roaming charges are real. Some carriers (Project Fi/Google Fi, Three UK, T-Mobile US Magenta plus international plans) offer reasonable rates.
Travel SIMs
Specialist travel SIMs sold for China (Plan B, Lyca, etc.) bake the GFW around them — they may or may not give clear access. Read the fine print.
eSIM
Modern phones can hold a Chinese local eSIM and a roaming foreign eSIM simultaneously. Some travellers do this — local SIM for cheap data, foreign roaming for the GFW-bypass.
Hotel WiFi
Hotel WiFi is part of the GFW system. Most international-brand hotels offer the same blocks as the rest of the country. Some upmarket hotels run separate guest networks with a VPN tunnel to overseas routers — this is uncommon and getting rarer.
What to do before you fly
1. Install a paid VPN. Open it once, confirm it works on your home network. 2. Install Pleco (Chinese-English dictionary, works offline). 3. Download Google Maps offline maps for your itinerary cities. 4. Download Google Translate's Chinese language pack for offline translation. 5. Bookmark backup mail/IM access (Apple iMessage, WeChat for in-China contacts).