ExpressVPN China: How to Use It, Best Servers & Setup Tips
So does ExpressVPN China work? Yes! If you’re looking for a VPN to break through China’s Great Firewall, you might be wondering if ExpressVPN China is still up to the task. Below, we update you on the game of cat and mouse Chinese censors play with western VPNs, and show you how ExpressVPN can still unblock the free and open Internet inside of China.
In 2018, China did what they said they would – crackdown on VPN use. While still not explicitly illegal (at least not to private citizens), a lot of VPN providers got hit hard.
ExpressVPN can still work in China, though reliability can fluctuate depending on your network, physical location, and politically sensitive periods such as national anniversaries or major events. While other providers have struggled to keep up, ExpressVPN has consistently worked to restore service quickly – so how do they do it? How does ExpressVPN still work in China when so many other providers have fallen away?
Today we’re going to show you as much as possible how ExpressVPN does it – and how you can use them when you’re in China. We’ll discuss ExpressVPN China status, online censorship of the Great Firewall and some tips for operating ExpressVPN while you’re behind it.
Editor's Pick July 2026
ExpressVPN China Status: This VPN WORKS!
- Unblocking Netflix, iPlayer, Hulu, Amazon Prime
- Super fast, reliable connection
- Secure encryption & VPN protocols
- No logging policy well enforced
- Great customer service via chat
- Power-users configuration options
Last tested: 2026. ExpressVPN continues to function in China, though connection reliability can vary by location, ISP, and time of year. We recommend checking ExpressVPN’s support page for the latest server and protocol guidance before or during your trip.
First, let’s do a quick review of some of our favorite features of ExpressVPN. With servers in 105 countries, ExpressVPN has a big, established network.
Despite being located in the British Virgin Islands, ExpressVPN are firmly outside of U.K. jurisdiction, and therefore exempt from the major surveillance agreements between countries – so no worries about anyone coming knocking for your information. And even if they could request anything from ExpressVPN, there’d be nothing to show that can trace back to you – the provider doesn’t keep any logs on traffic, DNS requests, IP addresses, or browsing history.
ExpressVPN China is also one of the fastest providers on the market, giving you buffer-free streaming, fast download times, and seamless browsing. And they manage to do this – and remain lightweight — in spite of military-grade, 256-bit AES encryption that keeps your data secure and private.
ExpressVPN has proven itself time and again as one of the few VPNs that can reliably punch through China’s Great Firewall – and even during periods of disruption, has worked quickly to restore service to their many customers. That said, no VPN is guaranteed to work 100% of the time in China, and connection success can depend on your network conditions and when you’re traveling.
Learn more about the best VPNs for China in our full ExpressVPN review.
Why the Internet and VPNs are so heavily censored in China
Political opinions aside, China’s restrictions are supposed to protect its citizens from content that could corrupt, divide, or incite hatred – in theory. The thing is, all content on the web is open to interpretation – and in China, only the government gets to decide what content falls under which category. So, Chinese political opponents, people with differing opinions, western media – all wind up being silenced.
Going with this, it doesn’t help that Chinese legislation – the Computer Information Network and Internet Security, Protection, and Management Regulations of 1977 – is worded so vaguely as to essentially give the government unlimited methods to censor content.
Anything that could be critical of the Chinese government or an important personage – even an unbiased article – could easily be found guilty of numerous offenses, not least of which include “inciting division”, “injuring the reputation of state organs”, “activities against the constitution”, etc.
Even discussing celebrity news can be considered a crime. As such, many services – especially western sites and apps – have been blocked. Just a few:
- Social media – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.
- Messaging – WhatsApp, Gmail, Slack, Telegram
- Search engines – Google, Yahoo, more
- News Sites – The Guardian, BBC, NYTimes
- VPN and proxy-related sites – tutorials and configuration guides
- Information sites – Wikipedia, Quora
China has a long history of VPN-blocking. While internet censorship is nothing new – most countries block access to illegal content, for instance – China’s restrictions are on another scale.
As many as 10,000 or more sites have been reported as blocked, including social media sites and messaging apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp. This makes it hard for far-flung family members and friends to keep in touch; plus, with dissenting opinions quickly crushed, and most western sites blocked, very little unbiased news of the outside world reaches China’s interior.
Accordingly, many individuals turned to VPNs – even corporations. In the latter case, it’s a necessity, so the Chinese government allows certain VPN services to operate within its borders – but these are controlled by the government, who can see any and all information that passes through. Off-shore VPNs (like ExpressVPN, NordVPN, and others) are not illegal for use by citizens (yet), but few are capable of getting through China’s sophisticated firewall.
How does ExpressVPN China work to access blocked content?
We’re not going to sit here and claim that ExpressVPN China is perfect and works 100% of the time. But understanding the features that make it work helps explain why it consistently outperforms most other VPNs behind the Great Firewall.
The most important mechanism is automatic obfuscation. ExpressVPN disguises your VPN traffic so that it looks like regular HTTPS traffic to outside observers, including the Great Firewall’s deep packet inspection systems. Because the firewall can’t easily identify it as VPN traffic, it’s far less likely to be blocked. This happens automatically — you don’t need to toggle any special setting to enable it.
Beyond obfuscation, several other features matter specifically in China:
- Network Lock (kill switch): If your VPN connection drops unexpectedly, Network Lock immediately cuts your internet access so your real IP address is never exposed — even for a split second.
- DNS and leak protection: ExpressVPN routes your DNS requests through its own encrypted servers, preventing your ISP or the Chinese government from seeing which sites you’re trying to visit.
- TrustedServer technology: ExpressVPN runs its servers entirely on RAM, meaning no data is ever written to a hard drive and everything is wiped with every reboot. There’s simply nothing to hand over, even if a server were ever seized.
Another reason ExpressVPN works in China is that it has no servers in mainland China. This means it doesn’t fall under any Chinese data retention legislation — so China isn’t privy to ExpressVPN’s (nonexistent) user logs. That also makes it harder for their hardware to be tampered with by Chinese-government operatives.
Taken together, these features — obfuscation, leak protection, RAM-only servers, and a strict no-logs policy — are why ExpressVPN remains one of the few VPNs that can consistently function behind the Great Firewall.
How to Use ExpressVPN in China to bypass the Great Firewall and its Restrictions
One of the great things about ExpressVPN China is that there are no additional steps or hoops to jump through for connecting. All you need to do is pick your preferred server – like normal – and you should soon be browsing the web freely and securely. That said, some servers work better than others. Start with nearby locations — Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, and Macau are typically your best bets for speed and reliability. If one location connects slowly or fails to connect, move on to another nearby option rather than persisting with a single server. If you’re still having trouble, try switching protocols (more on that below) before trying a more distant location like the USA or UK.
But it’s also a good idea to register, download, and install ExpressVPN before you enter China. There are mirror sites and other ways you can get around this if you’re already located within China, but the easiest method is to do so ahead of time. To do that:
- Visit ExpressVPN’s website through our special link. Then, click the banner at the top advertising the discount. You’ll be taken to the “plans” page. Select a plan, then provide the requested information. Once you’ve filled everything out and completed sign-up, you’ll receive an email from ExpressVPN.
- Go to the email you provided. The email from ExpressVPN will be entitled “Welcome Email.” Inside, there will be a link to download the application. Click through the link to be automatically logged in, then download and install the ExpressVPN app.
- Once you’ve successfully downloaded and installed the app, launch it. You’ll be automatically logged in and the app will connect you to the fastest available server. If you need or want to change that, just open the server list, search for, and select your preferred server.
Already inside China and haven’t installed ExpressVPN yet?
If you’ve already arrived in China without installing ExpressVPN first, don’t panic — you still have options. Here’s what to do:
- Contact ExpressVPN support for a working mirror download link. ExpressVPN maintains alternative download URLs specifically for users in China where the main site is blocked. You can reach support via email.
- Download the installer from the mirror link provided by support and install the app as normal.
- Sign in using your activation code rather than your email and password if prompted — your activation code is included in your original welcome email from ExpressVPN.
- Be aware that VPN apps may be absent from the Chinese App Store, and Google Play is blocked entirely in China, so the mirror link from ExpressVPN support is your most reliable path to getting the installer.
Because China monitors its residents’ online activity closely, when you connect with ExpressVPN for the first time in China, we suggest you take some additional steps.
First, make sure that ExpressVPN automatically connects your device whenever it’s turned on. It’s easy to do this: visit the main page, then click the menu icon (3 lines) in the top left, and choose “Options.” Select the “General” tab and enable the first 2 options you see. These ensure you’re never browsing without protection.
If you’re on a desktop version of the app, you can also enable the kill switch – this will disconnect you instantly in the case of an accidental VPN-connection drop.
This done, move over to the “Advanced” tab and click the boxes for IPv6 protection and DNS protection, then click “OK.” These will ensure that you don’t have any leaks of your real IP address or DNS address. That done, you’re good to go.
What to do if ExpressVPN China is blocked
As we mentioned earlier, ExpressVPN has been blocked by the Chinese government before. They’re good at getting up-and-running again, but even so, there are things you can try out before giving up:
Change ExpressVPN servers
This is the simplest and most instinctive reaction – just try changing servers. Something could’ve changed and your usual server may have been detected and blocked. Try a different nearby location, then another. ExpressVPN has thousands of server options across 105 countries, so a little persistence can go a long way.
Change protocols, then connect
ExpressVPN offers multiple encryption protocols, and switching protocols is one of the most effective steps you can take when connections are being actively blocked. The current protocol options available in the ExpressVPN app are: Lightway UDP, Lightway TCP, OpenVPN UDP, OpenVPN TCP, and IKEv2.
By default, the app is set to Automatic, which selects the best protocol on its own. When that isn’t working in China, here’s what to do: open the ExpressVPN app, go to Settings, then select Protocol. Switch from Automatic to Lightway TCP or OpenVPN TCP — TCP-based protocols are better at mimicking normal web traffic and tend to hold up better under deep packet inspection. Once you’ve changed the protocol, retry connecting to a nearby server such as Hong Kong, Japan, or Singapore.
Contact Free ExpressVPN Support
If you try these things and they don’t work, chances are you’ll soon get an email from ExpressVPN mentioning a blanket disruption. But in the meantime, give the ExpressVPN support team a call/email or contact them on live chat.
They may have ideas for you, or at the very least, more information on when you can expect to have service again.
RELATED: China Extends Messaging App Block To WhatsApp
Conclusion: Use ExpressVPN China to bypass censorship
While in other countries, logging into Facebook, Gmail, or your Twitter account may just be a regular part of your day – not so in China. And although VPNs are excellent tools for bypassing censorships and geoblocks, most do not work on the other side of the Great Firewall.
ExpressVPN China, however, has proven itself time and again as being able to punch through. Despite brief outages in service, ExpressVPN does still work in China, and they do it through a combination of tenacity and vigorous, continual efforts to keep the internet wide open.
Have you used ExpressVPN to access blocked content in China?
Did it work for you? Did you have to take any special measures? Tell us your story in the comments section below.
If you need a VPN for a short while when traveling for example, you can get our top ranked VPN free of charge. NordVPN includes a 30-day money-back guarantee. You will need to pay for the subscription, that’s a fact, but it allows full access for 30 days and then you cancel for a full refund. Their no-questions-asked cancellation policy lives up to its name.
