Operational Status Under Active Probing & DPI Evasion.
If you are looking for the best VPNs for China, our analysis shows that services relying on standard protocols (like OpenVPN/WireGuard) no longer work. This report cuts through the marketing to verify which providers utilize StealthVPN and Proprietary Obfuscation to survive the current GFW heuristics.
Ranked by reliability and user sentiment
Weekly Community Consensus • Jan 29 - Feb 04
We track routing performance for CN2 (China Telecom) and AS4837 (China Unicom) networks to ensure low-latency peering.
Network: CN2 GIA / 163
Bypass Confidence
Analyst Note: Premium CN2 GIA stable. ALERT (Jan 27): 'Small Whitelist' testing reported; non-verified IPs may face 100% loss.
Network: AS4837 / CUII
Bypass Confidence
Analyst Note: Best for streaming. ACADEMIC ALERT: CERNET now blocks TLS fragmentation—standard SNI bypass fails on campus.
Network: CMNET (Intl)
Bypass Confidence
Analyst Note: Heavy UDP Throttling (8-11PM). MITIGATION: Xray-core v26.1.23 port-hopping confirmed to bypass current throttles.
*Note: "Bypass Confidence" is based on observed TCP Reset rates across major gateway nodes. Proprietary Obfuscation currently demonstrates the highest resilience across both CN2 GIA and AS4837 networks.
Our rankings aren't opinion—they're aggregated consensus from real users inside China. Here's one of 200+ verified reports we collected this month.
See our full methodology →
Aggregated sentiment from r/China, r/chinalife, and r/dumbclub
| # | VPN Service | Status | Reddit Score | Trend | Best For | Refund | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Astrill VPN | Stable | 9.6 /10 | STABLE | Business / Expat Standard | 7-day | View Site |
| #2 | LetsVPN | Working | 8.2 /10 | BLOCKING | Speed / One-Tap Access (Warning: 50GB Data Cap) | 7-day | View Site |
| #3 | VyprVPN | Working | 7.4 /10 | RISING | Privacy / Chameleon Protocol | 30-day | View Site |
| #4 | Mullvad | Manual | 6.5 /10 | STABLE | Privacy Maximalists (Expert Config) | 30-day | View Site |
The "Triad" Strategy
The GFW uses Active Probing to identify and block specific protocols. Relying on two VPNs that use the same underlying tech (like WireGuard) isn't redundancy—it's correlated failure. Our community consensus recommends a "Triad" of unconnected technologies:
Goal: Stable Work Tunnel.
Uses closed-source protocols (StealthVPN) optimized for CN2
GIA routing. Hard to detect, expensive to maintain.
Target: Astrill VPN
Goal: Speed & Ease.
Uses Proprietary One-Tap protocols to masquerade
as normal HTTPS traffic. High speed, medium reliability.
Target: LetsVPN
Goal: Emergency Access.
International eSIMs bypass the GFW entirely by roaming on
China Mobile/Unicom towers. 100% unblockable at the hardware level.
View eSIM Comparison →
"True redundancy means if the GFW patches one protocol tomorrow, your eSIM still works. If they degrade international bandwidth, your CN2 tunnel survives."
International eSIMs bypass the Great Firewall at the hardware level—no software, no detection, no blocking. Your phone connects to local towers (China Mobile/Unicom), but your data exits through Hong Kong or Singapore gateways. Google, YouTube, WhatsApp work natively with 100% reliability.
MobiMatter — $7.99/10GB
Nomad — $15/10GB
CAC "Minor Protection" Rules: New regulations limit content affecting "minors' values," likely signaling keyword tightening for March 1. Meanwhile, GitHub users report a 17% API failure rate, confirming degraded developer access. Read Analysis →
Astrill (StealthVPN) remains stable. Geedge Leaks indicate new entropy scanners on AS4837 nodes adjacent to Shanghai.
Honest answers to the questions other sites won't address.
Without a VPN, the Great Firewall (GFW) blocks access to the entire Google ecosystem (Maps, Gmail, Drive), Meta platforms (Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook), YouTube, and major news sites like the BBC or NYT. If your life or work depends on these apps, a VPN isn't an option—it's a requirement.
No, and any site claiming otherwise is lying. The GFW is an evolving AI-driven system. Even the best VPNs like Astrill or LetsVPN may experience brief "blackouts" during political meetings or national holidays.
This is why we recommend our "Two-VPN Redundancy Strategy"—carrying two different VPNs that use different entropy analysis protocols.
In most countries, a VPN simply encrypts your data. In China, the GFW uses Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) to analyze traffic patterns in real-time. When the GFW detects a VPN "handshake," it throttles the speed or kills the connection entirely.
Stability depends on Entropy Analysis—the ability of the VPN to disguise itself as normal HTTPS web traffic. This is why we focus our research on obfuscated protocols like StealthVPN and Proprietary Protocols like LetsVPN's.
Absolutely not. The official websites for almost every VPN are blocked within China. While you can sometimes find "mirror links" or use airport WiFi, it is 10x easier to download, install, and test your VPN on the Open Web before you fly.
Pro tip: Log in at least once and connect to a server before departure. This caches your credentials and server list for offline use.
There is a difference between "unauthorized" and "illegal." While China has shut down domestic, non-licensed VPN providers, there have been no reported cases of foreign travelers being penalized for using a VPN for personal use or work communication.
Millions of expats and business travelers use VPNs daily without issue. The enforcement focus is on Chinese citizens and companies operating unlicensed VPN services.
This is known as the "Firebase Constraint." Most Western apps rely on Google's Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) for push notifications. Since Google is blocked, these notifications are dead on arrival.
The Fix: Use VPN apps that utilize Proprietary Polling or WebSocket channels (like Astrill or LetsVPN) rather than relying on Google Play Services.