Tunnelz

China trip guide

Does Telegram work in China?

Not without help. Telegram is blocked in mainland China, as WhatsApp and Signal are. A roaming eSIM that routes data outside mainland China usually gets it through on your phone’s mobile data, and on hotel Wi-Fi or a laptop on Wi-Fi you need a VPN. To message people in China, set up WeChat at home before you fly.

Updated

On Chinese networks aloneWith a roaming eSIM or a VPN doesn’t load usually gets throughOn Chinese networks alone doesn’t load With an eSIM or a VPN usually gets through
Fig. 01
Why Telegram needs a way past the block. Simplified, and no route is promised to stay open. Set up the eSIM or VPN before you fly.

What happens to Telegram in China

Telegram is blocked in mainland China. Reports of the block go back to July 2015, and GreatFire’s tests still find telegram.org and the web version at web.telegram.org blocked there.

Freedom House reports that in April 2024, China’s internet regulator also ordered Apple to take Telegram, WhatsApp and Signal out of its App Store in China. AppleCensorship still lists Telegram as unavailable there.

So install and update Telegram at home, and plan how you’ll reach it once you land.

Three ways to keep Telegram

  • On your phone’s mobile data: with many roaming and travel eSIMs, your data travels on to the provider’s network abroad, so the block usually doesn’t apply. Plans differ, so check how yours routes data before you buy.

  • On hotel Wi-Fi: the Wi-Fi is a Chinese network, so Telegram is blocked there. On your phone, switch Wi-Fi off and stay on the eSIM’s data. On a Mac, you need a VPN.

  • On your Mac: install the Telegram app and switch a VPN on. Your cloud chats sync to it. The web version is blocked on Chinese networks too.

Fig. 02
The three situations to plan for.

What to do before you fly

Telegram’s website is blocked once you’re there, and logging in on a new device usually takes a code. So get everything ready at home:

  1. 1. Install Telegram and log in at home, on your phone and your Mac. Telegram may send the login code to the app on a device you’ve used recently, instead of by SMS.

  2. 2. Turn on 2-Step Verification. Go to Settings › Privacy and Security › 2-Step Verification. It adds a password to the login code. Add a recovery email you can reach on the trip.

  3. 3. Set up WeChat too. Sign-up can ask a friend who already uses it to scan a QR code, which is easier to sort out at home. WeChat asks you to keep any VPN off while you sign up. Then swap IDs with the people you’ll meet.

Fig. 03
Three things to do before you fly.

The WhatsApp guide has more on setting up WeChat. And don’t log out of Telegram for the trip: Secret Chats stay on one device and aren’t in Telegram’s cloud, and logging out loses them.

What chat apps work in China

Most foreign chat apps hit the same block. WeChat is the everyday app for messages in China, so it’s the one to set up. QQ, also from Tencent, is the other big one.

Blocked in mainland China

  • Telegram
  • WhatsApp
  • Signal
  • Messenger
  • LINE
  • Discord

What people in China use

  • WeChat
  • QQ
Fig. 04
From Freedom House and GreatFire’s tests of each app’s website. Tencent reported about 1.44 billion monthly users across Weixin and WeChat, and 520 million on QQ’s mobile apps, as at 30 June 2026.

Keep in mind that apps such as WeChat must follow China’s censorship rules, and communications in China may be monitored.

Where Tunnelz fits

Tunnelz is for the Mac side. It sets up your own server, which only you use, and its tunnel covers your whole Mac, so apps such as Telegram for Mac can get past the blocks on hotel Wi-Fi, not just the browser. The Smart route sends Chinese sites direct, so they stay fast. If your server is ever blocked, Replace Server can set up a new one in minutes, as long as the app can reach Vultr. In China that may take eSIM data or another network (how).

  • Telegram for Mac

    Goes through your own server, which only you use.

  • Chinese sites

    Go direct, so they stay fast.

Fig. 05
The Smart route on your Mac, simplified. No route is promised to stay open.

Only have a phone? A roaming eSIM that routes data outside mainland China usually covers this today; Tunnelz for iPhone is coming.

Questions

Can I download Telegram once I’m in China?
Don’t count on it. Telegram’s website is blocked there, and AppleCensorship lists it as unavailable in Apple’s App Store in China since April 2024. Install and update it at home.
Does Telegram work with a roaming eSIM in China?
Usually, on the eSIM’s own mobile data, if the plan routes data outside mainland China. Not every plan does, so check before you buy. On hotel Wi-Fi the block applies again.
Will my Telegram login code reach me in China?
Don’t count on it, so log in on your devices at home. Telegram may send the code to the app on a device you’ve used recently, but it says that’s no substitute for an up-to-date phone number. A data-only eSIM has no number for texts, so to get an SMS you’d need your home line switched on, which may mean roaming charges.
Can I use Telegram’s own proxy setting instead?
It’s an option. On iPhone it’s in Settings › Data and Storage › Proxy, on Android in Settings › Data and Storage › Proxy Settings, in Telegram for macOS in Settings › Data and Storage › Use Proxy, and in Telegram Desktop in Settings › Advanced › Connection Type. You enter the details of a proxy server yourself, and Telegram says to use only one from a source you trust, because its owner could log that you’re using Telegram. It carries Telegram alone, and we can’t say how well one holds up in China, so don’t make it your only plan.
What messaging apps work in China?
WeChat and QQ are the big Chinese ones, and WeChat is the one to set up. Telegram, WhatsApp, Signal and LINE are blocked, and GreatFire’s tests find the websites of Messenger and Discord blocked too, so plan on a roaming eSIM or a VPN for those.
Does Tunnelz work on iPhone?
Not yet. Tunnelz runs on an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 14 or later today, and the iPhone and iPad app is coming to the App Store. For Telegram on a phone, a roaming eSIM that routes data outside mainland China usually covers it today.

Sources