China trip guide

Can you work remotely from China?

You can, but plan for bad days. Google Workspace is blocked in mainland China and Microsoft 365 can be slow, so you’ll rely on a VPN, and no VPN can promise to work every day there. Ask your employer first, install your work apps before you move, and keep a second way online for when your main one slows or drops.

Updated 6 Nov 2026

Google WorkspaceBlocked
GitHubUnreliable
Microsoft 365Can be slow
Teams callsA better route
SlackInstall before you move

Fig. 01

Your work tools on a home or office connection in mainland China, from Microsoft’s guidance and GreatFire’s tests. Blocks change, so check before you rely on one.

What’s blocked, and what usually works

Gmail, Docs and Drive are blocked in mainland China, and GreatFire, which tests sites from inside mainland China, found interference in all its recent tests of Google Meet. GitHub is patchy: about two in three of GreatFire’s recent tests found interference.

Outlook on the web and Teams weren’t blocked in GreatFire’s tests, but Microsoft says the links out of China are congested, which hurts large files and calls, and suggests its desktop apps over the web versions. Teams calls and meetings get a better route it set up with Chinese telecoms; chat and files don’t.

Slack’s website loaded in GreatFire’s latest tests, but its apps were taken out of app stores in mainland China in March 2024. Apps you already have keep working.

Only going for a week or two? See the business trip guide.

Before you move

Microsoft describes companies that carry their China staff’s traffic over a company VPN and private links, so start with your employer:

1. Ask your employer whether the company VPN works from China, its rules for working abroad and for its data, and which laptop to take.
2. Install and update your work apps, such as Slack, Teams, Outlook and OneDrive. Slack’s apps aren’t in app stores in mainland China.
3. Set up a sign-in that doesn’t need texts. Save backup codes or add an authenticator app. For work accounts, ask IT.
4. Keep the files you need on your laptop. Make Google Docs available offline before you go.

Fig. 02

Four things to do at home, where app stores and sign-in pages are easier to reach.

Have more than one way online

On a Chinese network a VPN can stop working at any time, as blocks change, and one VPN maker’s help page says no VPN service can promise complete reliability in China. So keep a backup:

Your main way: a VPN
Home broadband and a Chinese SIM are Chinese networks, so the blocks apply on them.
A second VPN
From a different maker, signed in at home and kept off until you need it: only one VPN can carry your traffic at a time.
Your phone’s roaming data
A travel eSIM that routes data outside mainland China doesn’t depend on your broadband or VPN. Share it with your laptop through Personal Hotspot, if your plan allows it, and watch the data allowance.

Fig. 03

More than one way online, ready before you need it. Simplified. None of these routes is promised to stay open.

Test each one before you move.

Expect slow hours and bad days

Some slowness isn’t your VPN. A 2020 study, measuring in 2019, found that on over 70% of the paths it tested, downloads from abroad into China crawled below 1 Mbps for more than five hours every day. Freedom House says China’s filtering also makes foreign websites sluggish.

Blocks tighten at times, too. The UK Foreign Office warns that the internet may be restricted around important political dates, and Freedom House says VPN blocks typically escalate ahead of high-profile events, such as the yearly legislative meetings.

Every day. Expect slow hours. Let big uploads and syncs run in the background.
Around big political events. VPN blocks tend to tighten, so have your backup ready.
Before a call that matters. Test your connection first and have a fallback: your eSIM data, or dialling in by phone if your company’s Teams has audio conferencing.

Fig. 04

Planning for the bad days. None of this stops them.

If it stops altogether, the VPN troubleshooting guide has the checks, in order.

Where Tunnelz fits

Tunnelz covers your whole Mac, work apps and the terminal included, through your own server, which only you use. Setup builds it in the fastest region it finds, Tunnelz picks the faster protocol on its own, and the Smart route sends WeChat and Chinese sites direct, so they stay fast. It runs on an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 14 or later.

Work apps and the browser
Go through your own server, which only you use.
WeChat and Chinese sites
Go direct with the Smart route, so they stay fast.

Fig. 05

The Smart route on your Mac. Simplified. Teams calls may do better off the VPN: ask IT. No route is promised to stay open, and the slow hours still apply.

In our own use, for a few weeks in Shanghai in October 2026, on hotel Wi-Fi and mobile data with a server in Tokyo, calls didn’t drop and YouTube played in 4K. That’s our experience, not a promise: it can’t stop a wider block, and our terms say we can’t promise it will work on every network, every day, so keep your backup.

For the bad days: if it’s slow on a phone hotspot or public Wi-Fi, use Switch to the Fastest Protocol. If your server’s address is 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). Microsoft’s better route for Teams calls is for the ordinary Chinese internet, not a VPN, so ask your IT team how to join Teams calls; Teams isn’t blocked, so if they advise it, switch Tunnelz off for the call. If your company has its own VPN or rules for China, follow those first.

For a long stay, Monthly ($34.99 a month + tax) or Yearly ($199.99 a year + tax) suits better than the 10-day Trip Pass. Each covers 2 devices; the server is extra, about $5 a month paid to Vultr, and every plan has a 30-day refund. Tunnelz for iPhone is coming.

On a Mac: a 10-day Trip Pass, not a yearly plan.

$29.99 + tax, one payment, nothing to cancel. Your own server, not shared with thousands.

Download Tunnelz for Mac

Tunnelz for Mac needs Apple silicon and macOS 14 or later. iPhone and iPad are coming to the App Store: get notified. Android and Windows: join the Android waitlist or the Windows waitlist.

Monthly $34.99 + tax and Yearly $199.99 + tax start with 3 days free. Every plan covers 2 devices and has a 30-day refund. Your server is billed to you by Vultr, about $5 a month.

Questions

Can I work remotely from China?

You can, but plan for bad days. Google Workspace is blocked there, Microsoft 365 can be slow, and no VPN can promise to work every day. Ask your employer first, install your work apps before you move, and keep a second way online, such as a roaming eSIM.

Does Slack work in China?

Slack’s website loaded in GreatFire’s latest tests, but its apps were taken out of app stores in mainland China in March 2024. Apps you already have keep working, so install and update Slack before you move.

Does GitHub work in China?

Unreliably. In GreatFire’s tests from inside mainland China, about two in three recent attempts to reach github.com met interference.

Can I teach online from China?

Lessons are live calls, so plan as for any call that matters: test from where you’ll teach, keep a backup connection ready, and ask your platform about teaching from mainland China.

Is it legal to use a VPN in China?

China has rules on this. They say VPN services need a government licence. Separately, China’s Cybersecurity Law was amended, and the changes have been in force since 1 January 2026. We’re not lawyers and this isn’t legal advice, so check current official guidance, such as your own government’s travel advice, before you go.