VPN Not Working in China?

Why is my VPN not working in China?

Usually because China’s Great Firewall has detected and blocked it. Proton VPN says the firewall uses DNS filtering, IP blocking and deep packet inspection to detect and block VPN connections, and that China changes its blocking methods frequently. Providers and users describe these causes:

• The firewall recognized your protocol. Mullvad says firewalls in countries such as China use deep packet inspection to find traffic that looks like VPN traffic, then block or slow it down. Astrill says OpenVPN, a widely used protocol, “is often blocked in China”.
• Your server was blocked. Mullvad says these firewalls also keep lists of known VPN server addresses. Its guide, last updated April 22, 2026, says the Great Firewall blocks all Mullvad servers in Asia. A Proton VPN user in China wrote on Reddit on September 21, 2026 that the Netherlands servers they had used could no longer be reached at all.
• The app itself was blocked. NordVPN’s help pages say its iPhone, Android and Mac apps are fully blocked in China.
• Blocking got stricter for a while. Failures cluster around crackdowns and sensitive dates. The next section has the 2026 dates.
• The hotel Wi-Fi login page didn’t load. NordVPN says its auto-connect and kill switch settings can stop a hotel’s Wi-Fi login page from appearing. Our guide to using a VPN on hotel Wi-Fi in China covers this case.
• The app is missing or out of date. TechCrunch reported in July 2017 that Apple had removed all major VPN apps from its App Store in China, and that the Google Play Store wasn’t available there. In June 2026, a Deakin University professor who studies censorship told ABC News that China’s methods include removing VPN apps from app stores. ExpressVPN says keeping its app up to date is critical to getting connected in China. Our guide on how to get a VPN in China covers installing one before and after you arrive.

Blocking doesn’t always show up as an error. Astrill wrote on September 29, 2026 that it often looks like a VPN that connects for a moment and then drops, a connection stuck on “connecting”, or speeds too low to use. It added that throttling is common because it frustrates people without an obvious block.

VPN stopped working in China: what changed in 2026

A VPN that worked on an earlier trip may not work now, because blocking got stricter in 2026.

• April. US-based censorship analyst Eric Liu told ABC News that a new round of crackdowns on VPNs began in April, and that telecom carriers in parts of China were asked to block all VPN services. On April 28, LetsVPN said it was ending its mainland China business after 20 days of near-hourly fixes failed against ongoing network blocking.
• September 10. A Proton VPN user in China wrote on Reddit that it stopped working that afternoon on all three of their devices, and other users reported servers that no longer connected. On September 30, Proton’s support team replied that the problem was specific to mainland China and came from “enhanced government blocking of VPNs”.
• Late September to early October. A Mullvad user in Shanghai wrote on September 29 that only one Mullvad server would connect. Two replies blamed the run-up to the October 1 National Day holiday, while another user in Shanghai said almost all servers connected. On October 11, a user of proxy apps wrote: “It’s always worst in October, but this year seems especially bad.”

Eric Liu told ABC News that VPN trouble often follows the installation of new censorship technology. He said it can also come during sensitive political events, such as the national congress weeks in March or the June 4 Tiananmen Square anniversary. ABC News also reported that state-approved VPNs are still permitted. For what the rules mean for visitors, read is using a VPN legal in China? For this month’s reports on each VPN, see which VPN works in China now.

VPN not connecting in China: fixes for any VPN

Most providers give the same first fixes: update the app, switch protocol or turn on obfuscation, and try other servers and networks. Each provider’s China help page is linked in its section below.

• Update the app. ExpressVPN calls this critical, and Proton’s support team gave the same advice on September 30, 2026.
• Switch protocol, or turn on obfuscation. Obfuscation makes VPN traffic look like ordinary encrypted web traffic, Astrill and Proton VPN say. Each provider has its own version: Stealth in Proton VPN, StealthVPN and OpenWeb in Astrill, and a set of anti-censorship settings in Mullvad. ExpressVPN lists protocols to try in order. NordVPN and Surfshark point to manual setups when their apps can’t connect.
• Try other servers. Proton VPN says servers in Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore are likely to be fastest, but you may need servers further away if those are blocked. Mullvad suggests US servers. Astrill suggests trying a different server location.
• Try another network. NordVPN’s China pages say to try a different network. Mullvad suggests trying both Wi-Fi and mobile data on a phone if its app can’t log in.
• On hotel Wi-Fi, finish the login page first. NordVPN says to complete the hotel’s Wi-Fi login page with the VPN off. Our hotel Wi-Fi guide has the details.
• Keep a backup. Several users in September and October 2026 Reddit threads switch to a second VPN when the first one fails. A roaming eSIM is the other backup. Airalo says its eSIMs with China coverage send data through gateways outside mainland China, so blocked sites work on the eSIM’s mobile data without a VPN, though not over hotel Wi-Fi. See eSIM or VPN for China?

NordVPN not working in China

NordVPN says its iPhone, Android and Mac apps are fully blocked in China. For those devices, its help center gives manual IKEv2/IPsec setups instead, which our NordVPN manual setup guide walks through. On Windows, NordVPN says its server configurations for manual setups and for the app “have recently been blocked”, and suggests connecting on another device. The iPhone, Android and Mac pages also suggest restarting the device, trying a different network and turning off other VPN services.

NordVPN last edited these pages between November 2025 and April 2026. In r/nordvpn threads from July and August 2026, users in China said NordVPN had stopped connecting. October reports are mixed. In an r/shanghai thread started October 3, one user said NordVPN worked for them and two said it didn’t. In an r/chinalife thread started October 11, another said they use NordVPN with its China instructions. Official pages: iPhone, Android, Mac and Windows. Prices and status are on our NordVPN page.

ExpressVPN not working in China

ExpressVPN’s China notice is dated February 4, 2026, and in an r/chinalife thread started on October 11, 2026, the poster and several replies said it doesn’t work. Whether it works for most people now is not confirmed. ExpressVPN’s notice gives this advice:

• Update the app. On Android, it links an installer file to install directly. After updating, wait a minute before the first connection.
• Try protocols in order. On Windows, Mac, iPhone and Linux: Automatic, Lightway UDP, Lightway TCP, WireGuard, then OpenVPN. On Android: Automatic, then Lightway TCP.
• Give it time. Connections may take longer than usual. Wait until the app says the connection failed before trying again.
• Check back. ExpressVPN says it will post new recommended server locations on the page.

Official page: Connecting to ExpressVPN in China. More on our ExpressVPN page.

Astrill VPN not working in China

October 2026 reports on Astrill are mixed. Most users who mention it in an r/shanghai thread started October 3 say it works, though some say it gets blocked at times or had an outage on September 30. Most who mention it in an r/chinalife thread started October 11 report problems, and some say it fails on their phone but works on a computer or router. One wrote on October 11 that it “isn’t doing great right now”.

Astrill’s guide to restrictive networks, published September 29, 2026, says to try these in order when it won’t connect: switch to its StealthVPN protocol, switch between UDP and TCP, change the port, then try a different server location. Astrill says its iPhone app doesn’t offer StealthVPN, so switching between UDP and TCP is the main setting there. Its FAQ says StealthVPN is hard to detect and block in countries with heavy censorship such as China. Its protocols page says OpenVPN is often blocked in China, and that StealthVPN and OpenWeb only work in Astrill’s own app.

Official pages: How Astrill VPN routes traffic in countries with heavy internet restrictions, VPN protocols and FAQ. More on our Astrill page.

Surfshark VPN not connecting in China

If the Surfshark app won’t connect in China, Surfshark says to connect manually with the WireGuard protocol instead. Its China page, updated October 2, 2026, says: “At the moment, we strongly recommend connecting manually using the WireGuard protocol if you can’t connect via the Surfshark app.” It links guides for Windows, Android, iOS, macOS and Linux.

One Reddit user wrote on October 16, 2026 that Surfshark had worked on hotel Wi-Fi in China a month earlier, after cycling through servers in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and Singapore. In an r/shanghai thread started October 3, several users named it as a VPN that works for them, and another called it “spotty right now but great when it works”. Official page: Connecting from China. More on our Surfshark page.

Proton VPN not working in China

Proton VPN’s support team said on September 30, 2026 that enhanced government blocking in mainland China was making it harder than usual to connect, and October reports from users are split. Some users wrote on October 3 and October 11 that it works for them. Another, in China on October 16, wrote that it wouldn’t connect “no matter what config I use”.

Proton’s China page, which has no date, gives this advice:

• Set it up before you travel, and keep alternative routing on. It’s on by default.
• Use the Stealth protocol, which wraps VPN traffic in an obfuscated TLS tunnel so it looks like a regular HTTPS connection.
• Servers in Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore are likely to be fastest. If those are blocked, try servers further away.
• If it still won’t connect, switch between the Stealth and Smart protocols and restart the app.

In its September 30 reply on Reddit, Proton’s support team also suggested keeping the app up to date or setting up a manual WireGuard connection. In an October 15 thread, users in China were trading names of individual servers that still connected, and one listed servers that worked and then stopped. Official page: Using Proton VPN in China.

Mullvad VPN not working in China

Mullvad says the Great Firewall blocks all Mullvad servers in Asia, and suggests trying servers in US cities with its obfuscation settings instead. Its guide for restrictive locations, last updated April 22, 2026, lists anti-censorship settings to try one at a time: WireGuard port, LWO, QUIC, Shadowsocks and UDP-over-TCP. It also describes Multihop, and suggests trying both Wi-Fi and mobile data on a phone if the app can’t log in. Official page: Using Mullvad VPN in restrictive locations.

Most October 2026 reports we read on Reddit say Mullvad connects, some only after a settings change, and some find it slow. A user wrote on October 16 that in China it only connected after they set its connection method to QUIC, and another wrote on October 19 that it was still working, if a bit slowly. A user in Shanghai said on October 3 that it is sometimes very hard to connect to any server.

LetsVPN not working in China

LetsVPN says it can no longer provide VPN service for users in mainland China. On April 28, 2026, it announced in Chinese that it was ending its mainland China business after 20 days of near-hourly fixes failed against ongoing network blocking. In a May 8 notice, it said standard operations were resuming worldwide, but that it “still cannot guarantee service availability in mainland China”. On May 15, its CEO wrote that LetsVPN “can no longer continue providing VPN services for mainland China users” and advised users there to complete the refund process. Its blog had no newer China notice as of October 19, 2026.

Some users say it still works. In Reddit threads started on October 3, 11 and 15, 2026, several users said LetsVPN worked for them, one while traveling through Inner Mongolia, Harbin and Changchun. One said it works most of the time, but not in the evenings, and another said it didn’t work for them. Our guide to LetsVPN alternatives covers what happened and other options.

VPN not working in China: what Reddit users say

Reddit threads from September and October 2026 hold the most recent reports from users in mainland China. Each comment is one person on one network, so treat them as hints, not tests.

• ExpressVPN does not work in China (r/chinalife, started October 11): the poster and several replies say ExpressVPN doesn’t work. Others name Mullvad, LetsVPN or Astrill, and several use a roaming eSIM instead.
• Has anyone found a VPN that works in China in 2026 (r/shanghai, started October 3): users say Astrill, Mullvad, LetsVPN or Proton VPN works for them, and others say the same VPNs get blocked or won’t connect at times. Reports on NordVPN and Surfshark are mixed.
• What is the go-to VPN nowadays? (r/travelchina, started October 15): a user in China says on October 16 that Proton VPN won’t connect and that a Trip.com eSIM is enough. Another says LetsVPN still works.
• Connection issues in mainland China since September 10 (r/ProtonVPN, started September 17): one Proton VPN server connected on the poster’s phone over mobile data, but not on their iPad over campus Wi-Fi or a phone hotspot.
• Servers down in China (r/mullvadvpn, started September 29): a user in Shanghai found only one Mullvad server connecting, over mobile data and several Wi-Fi networks.

Users in these threads also mention small VPN apps and paid proxy services, which they call “airports”. We haven’t looked into them and don’t list them here.