I’m a student from South Asia and recently due to personal reasons, I’m planning to shift to Shanghai. I regularly use Instagram, Snapchat and WhatsApp. I’ve heard that google and all these above mentioned apps are kinda banned in China but we can access it through VPN.
I want to know if we can truly access these apps through VPN? Or will there be serious consequences if the officials find out? And what might be the consequences?
Please let me know.
No one cares. One time China Telecom called me for a customer feedback type of survey and one of the questions was if I was happy with the speed of websites that need vpn to be accessed…
You can use all the stuff you’re used to , just need to use a VPN. Most foreigners keep using the stuff they used before they moved here with a VPN then use WeChat and other apps for local stuff.
You can access, no one cares.
Lol welcome newbie! No one gives a shit
Most people use them here still.
Just gotta use a VPN to access it. A bit of a pain but not an issue really.
For example. Reddit needs a vpn here too. I’m using it right now. Occasionally I have to turn my vpn on and off again but that’s it
Tiktok won’t work with a Chinese SIM in your phone.
Make sure you download and set up the VPN on all of your devices before you get to China. I saw someone recommend local apps, and while there are some, the barrier to entry can be higher, you need language skills, and it’s all just shadier. Most of my Chinese friends don’t use VPNs anymore, so if I had to figure one out while inside China, it would be a big pain in the ass.
Get a real VPN subscription from a real international provider installed and working on all your devices before you get to China. Pay money for it.
Then you can fall back on the local apps if you really need to.
VPN use has been widespread in China for ages. You don’t need to worry about being arrested or anything dramatic like that. The worst thing that can happen is your VPN gets shut down.
Get a vpn and you are good to go.
For Reddit you’ll also need vpn. Everything works well with a good vpn. As an advice I can tell you not to use free vpn or Chinese vpn. There are two reasons why. First is security and the second is speed. But actually no problems using any.
But it is slow and annoying a lot of time.
Could you suggest me some best vpn that works in Shanghai ?
maybe get another one
The ones working pretty well for me are 旋风加速器 and 神灯加速器. I downloaded them two years ago so I don’t know if they’re available now. I’m Chinese and I just went for the local ones.
“Lets VPN” you can pay with Alipay which makes it convenient, also it’s cheap! I’ve had it for just over a year and it’s great.