In short: yes, though VPN services occasionally suffer from hindrances trying to tackle them, especially in China. A VPN works in the entire world, no matter how strong online censorship is in a determined country. China is indeed one of those countries where few things are actually legal or not blocked and monitored, which makes it one of the top countries where a VPN is an absolute necessity. Arming yourself with a VPN not only helps accessing blocked content in that territory but the process is completely safe from all snooping eyes trying to stop you, including the government and ISPs. This is why the Chinese government is continually trying to impose new measures to control those who try to use VPNs, by making them illegal or granting new powers to the almighty Great Firewall.
However, for those who actually can use a VPN in such territory, Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp and much more can be unblocked just by tapping on a button. All you need to do is choose a server located in a country where geo-blocks are not applied (or at least the website you want to visit is open), connect, and bam, you are anonymous. Your ISP, the local authorities or the government won’t be able to see what you are doing since your online traffic is protected with top notch encryptions and therefore you are let on the loose in the middle of the online world.
Recommended VPNs for China
VPN companies constantly need to work around blocks imposed on their activities in China, and in some cases they are forced to temporarily cease their activities for users located in Chinese territory. Their main website may be blocked, preventing you from being able to login, or they may see some of their IPs being tackled. Over the years we’ve seen many VPN providers giving up on serving Chinese VPN users. There are a number of VPN providers that actively focus on making sure their service is up and running for China, three of which we give a warm recommendation for this reason:
12VPN
As a company headquartered in Hong Kong, 12VPN knows all too well how geo-blocks can be exasperating and thus they are committed to providing one of the best and most complete services. With this being said, 12VPN offers high-speed connections on servers spread across the world, covering Europe, the United States, Canada, Asia and Australia. All these feature unlimited bandwidth and military-grade encryption so your back is always protected. In addition, the company offers device support for multiple devices, ranging from computers to mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, with native apps for each one. A browser extension for Chrome is also a sweet treat and there are several subscription plans, including some specific ones for mobile devices only for instance. Last but not least, 12VPN grants a pleasant 14-day money back guarantee.
ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN is a well-known provider in the VPN world and surely holds one of the best services, which is the reason why it will surely fit you just fine for Chinese block circumvention. It’s no wonder it’s featured as one of the top choices in our VPN rankings. Starting by the generous server network it offers 136 servers in 87 countries with no bandwidth limits whatsoever. Besides that, it also features all major protocol types and solid SSL 256-bit encryption. ExpressVPN was built to work on all devices, from computers to mobile, including the always handy router configuration for extended protection. Regarding payments, there is a remarkable 30-day money back guarantee, almost working as a free trial, with the added bonus of another 30 days of free full service for each friend you sign up.
VyprVPN
Our last recommendation is a dangerous predator: VyprVPN. With a server network able to defeat bigger opponents, this company also assures unlimited bandwidth on all of its 700+ servers in over 50 countries, providing you around 200,000 anonymous IP addresses for content unblocking in China. Computers, mobile devices, routers, all have fallen prey for VyprVPN. Added features, like the opportunity of setting unique VPN preferences for each device, surely make this a good provider. If we add the lethal poison of 256-bit encryptions, L2TP/IPSec, OpenVPN and the rarely seen Chameleon protocol, there is no one that would dare to spy on you. Go ahead and try to tame the Vypr using the 3-day free trial.