Tunnelz

China trip guide

Why is my VPN not working in China?

A VPN that worked at home meets the Great Firewall on a Chinese network, and no VPN can promise to get past it every day. Check in this order: whether Chinese sites load, the Wi-Fi’s sign-in page, any other VPN, another network, then another server or protocol. Keep eSIM data as a backup, because sometimes it’s a wider block and all you can do is wait.

Updated

  • At home

    Your VPN’s connection doesn’t cross the Great Firewall.

  • After you land

    On a Chinese network, it has to cross the Great Firewall, and it can be stopped there.

Fig. 01
Why a VPN can work at home and stop after you land. Simplified. Networks differ, and no route is promised to stay open.

Why it worked at home

In mainland China, the government controls the gateways to the global internet and blocks VPNs it hasn’t approved. A test at home shows the app and your account work, but not how it’ll do on a Chinese network.

Blocking also changes, and it isn’t the same everywhere. One VPN maker says China “changes its blocking methods frequently”. So a VPN can connect on one network and not another, or work for days and then stop.

What to check, in order

These apply to any VPN, on a phone or a laptop.

  1. 1. Check the network. Switch your VPN off and open a Chinese site such as baidu.com, which isn’t blocked. If it won’t load, fix the network first.

  2. 2. Look for a sign-in page. Hotels, airports and cafés often ask you to sign in first, and a VPN can’t connect until you have. See the hotel Wi-Fi guide.

  3. 3. Quit any other VPN. Only one VPN can carry your traffic at a time, and that includes Cloudflare WARP.

  4. 4. Try another network. Move from Wi-Fi to mobile data, or on a laptop to your phone’s hotspot, or the other way round. If only one works, that network is the likely cause.

  5. 5. Change server or protocol. Nearby regions such as Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore are likely to be fastest. If those are blocked, try further away. Some apps also have a mode for networks that block VPNs.

  6. 6. Ask your VPN’s support. Some VPN makers publish steps for China. Save yours and your VPN’s support contact before you fly: VPN websites can be hard to reach there.

Fig. 02
What to check, in order, for any VPN. None of these promises a fix.

If it keeps disconnecting

A VPN usually has to reconnect when your laptop sleeps or changes network, so a short drop then is normal. Beyond that, Microsoft says congestion on the links out of China causes packet loss and delay for all traffic, and blocks can come and go.

Work through the checks above, starting with another network.

If it connects but is slow

Some of this isn’t your VPN. Freedom House says China’s blocking and filtering slows connections, and Microsoft says the congestion is hardest on large file transfers, audio and video.

Try another protocol, or another server, perhaps in a nearby region such as Japan or Singapore. If your VPN can send Chinese sites direct, turn that on, so they don’t go abroad and back.

If everything stops at once

If every VPN fails on every Chinese network you try, the cause may be wider than your app. The UK Foreign Office says access can be restricted around key political events, and Freedom House says VPN blocking tends to tighten before big events.

It can also be brief and unexplained. On 20 August 2025, researchers reported about 74 minutes when the Great Firewall disrupted connections on TCP port 443, the standard port for secure websites, though not on other common ports.

Changing settings may not help. Try again later, and use a backup if you have one:

  • Your phone’s mobile data

    A travel eSIM whose data is routed outside mainland China doesn’t depend on the Wi-Fi or your VPN.

  • Your laptop, through your phone

    Share the eSIM’s data with Personal Hotspot, if your phone and plan allow it: on an iPhone, Settings › Personal Hotspot › Allow Others to Join, then choose it in your Mac’s Wi-Fi menu. Watch your data allowance.

Fig. 03
Two backups that don’t depend on the Wi-Fi. Simplified. It depends on the provider and the plan, and no route is promised to stay open.

A backup is best ready before you land, so set up the eSIM at home. A second VPN from a different maker is worth installing too; keep it off until you need it.

Where Tunnelz fits

Tunnelz runs on an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 14 or later and sets up your own server, which only you use. When it won’t connect (how it looks):

  • This Wi-Fi needs a sign-in. Click Sign In to Wi-Fi on the card and sign in on the page that opens. Tunnelz switches back on by itself.

  • This network blocks a protocol, or it’s slow. Click the gear, then Server, then Switch to the Fastest Protocol. It helps most on phone hotspots and public Wi-Fi.

  • Your server was blocked. Click the gear, then Server, then Replace Server…, and wait about 2 minutes. You get a new address, and the old server is deleted. It has to reach Vultr, so see below if it can’t.

Fig. 04
What the Tunnelz panel offers on your Mac when it won’t connect or is slow.

Your own server can be blocked too. Replace Server helps when its address is the problem, not when a network is down or a wider block is on. It has to reach Vultr, which is hard to reach in China without a VPN, so you may need your eSIM data for it. Networks change, and we can’t promise Tunnelz will work on every network, every day, so check that it connects before you fly and keep a backup.

Only have a phone? A roaming eSIM usually covers most of this today; Tunnelz for iPhone is coming.

Questions

Why does my VPN keep disconnecting in China?
It can be your laptop sleeping or changing network, or blocks that come and go. Congestion on the links out of China can also cause packet loss. Try another network first.
Why is my VPN so slow in China?
China’s filtering slows connections, and congestion on the links out of the country adds delay and packet loss. Try another server, protocol or network.
Is there a VPN that always works in China?
No. One VPN maker’s own help page says no VPN service can promise complete reliability there, and our own terms say we can’t promise Tunnelz will work on every network, every day.
Why did Tunnelz stop connecting when my Trip Pass ended?
When a plan or pass ends, the app stops connecting, and Tunnelz deletes the server it built 24 hours later. Buy another pass or a plan within those 24 hours and you keep the server. The checkout is hard to reach in China without a VPN, so you may need your eSIM data for it.

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