The internet is fast. It is just not your internet

People arrive expecting the internet to be slow or broken. It is neither. It is extremely fast, extremely well built, and full of things you have never used, while quietly missing about nine things you use hourly without thinking about them.

What goes dark

Google, entirely. Gmail, Maps, Drive, Translate's online features. Instagram, Facebook, X, WhatsApp.

Here is the one that actually hurts, and it is not the social apps. If your two-factor codes arrive in Gmail, you have just locked yourself out of your bank, your airline and possibly your email, from inside a country where you cannot reach the inbox holding the key. Sort that out before you fly. It is the single highest-consequence item on any China checklist and it is almost never on one.

Roaming or a local SIM

Roaming sends your traffic home through your own operator, so the blocks mostly do not apply. It is why plenty of visitors never notice the firewall at all. Check the daily rate before you rely on it.

A local SIM or eSIM is faster and much cheaper, and puts you properly on the Chinese internet with everything that implies. Some travel eSIMs route via Hong Kong, which sidesteps it. Read what you are actually buying, because the listings are vague on purpose.

Install before you land

• WeChat and Alipay. Payment, transport, menus, appointments. Register at home, because registering needs SMS.
• A Chinese map. Amap or Baidu. Google Maps is blocked and its China data was poor even when it worked.
• DiDi, with a card already added.
• Something that translates without Google behind it. Anything that phones home to Google will fail at the exact moment you need it.

The wifi catch

Cafe and hotel wifi is everywhere and frequently wants a Chinese mobile number to send you a code. Which you may not have. Which is how people end up burning mobile data in a coffee shop with free wifi they cannot log into.

Questions people ask

Is Google blocked in China?

Yes, comprehensively. Gmail, Maps, Drive and Google Translate's online features do not work on a Chinese network.

Does roaming avoid the Great Firewall?

Usually. Roaming routes traffic through your home operator, so the blocks generally do not apply, at a higher cost per day.

Do I need a VPN in China?

It depends what you need. For Chinese services, no. For Google and Western social apps on a local SIM, that is what people use them for.

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