Is ProtonVPN working in China or is it blocked? You might be wondering if you are considering the provider and you are visiting this particular country. There is a lot to see and do in the country, but on the other hand, there is also a great deal of censorship. If you plan to use the internet to visit sites or apps you use at home, you are going to be limited to what you can see and do due to the Great Firewall. If you want to get around blocks, you are going to have to consider using a VPN, but is ProtonVPN the one?
So Is ProtonVPN Working in China?
If you check out their website you might think that the VPN will work anywhere in the world as it says it was created to break through internet censorship barriers.
In the past, the Virtual Private Network did work in China. However, all good things generally come to an end. Towards the end of 2019, the government began to block the servers of the provider. Therefore, ProtonVPN does not work in China at the moment.
The need for a Virtual Private Network in the country stems from the fact that the Chinese government set up a firewall with the intention of controlling what citizens in the country could access.
Why it doesn’t work?
The firewall was designed to use the very latest in technology. This includes URL and DNS filtering along with deep packet inspection. Using this tech, the government can block websites, apps, and even the servers of many VPN providers.
The company behind ProtonVPN is not giving up though. It has promised to look into the situation while at the same time continuing to work on measures that will allow its service to bypass the blocks at some point in the future.
ProtonVPN turned out to be well-performing during our test, so it is a real shame to find out that the servers no longer work to unblock the numerous websites that come under censorship in the country.
Websites blocked in China
The Great Firewall manages to block over 8,000 websites, along with numerous apps. The government insists the blocks are placed to protect citizens from harmful information and influence from the outside world.
However, many of the websites and apps blocked are legitimate ones. In fact, many people around the world finding them helpful in everyday life.
These include the Google range of apps, Mail, Calendar, Maps, Messaging. Even Google Play has been blocked by the authorities in China, leaving millions of people unable to install apps on Android devices.
While the ProtonVPN’s servers once unblocked access within China, allowing access to these apps and more, it is no longer able to do so.
How Does a VPN Bypass Blocks?
We are not going to go into detail about how a Virtual Private Network manages to bypass blocks and restrictions. However, we will give you a quick rundown.
When you go onto the internet, your ISP in the country you are located finds your IP address, as all countries have IPs within a certain range.
The ISP also knows what website you want to visit. If that site is on the blocked list for the country, the ISP blocks it.
Using a VPN, you can hide your IP address and get one from a server offered by the provider. Providers offer access to a range of servers. Connecting to a server leads the ISP into thinking you are outside of the country.
The server also puts an encrypted tunnel between the device and the internet, encrypting information so the ISP cannot read it.
What VPNs Work Instead?
As the technology behind the Great Firewall improves, the number of VPNs that continue to work in the country dwindles. Therefore, the ending of ProtonVPN being able to bypass censorship in China comes as no big surprise.
However, some providers do still manage to sneak under the radar of the Chinese government. If you are looking for a provider that works, we highly recommend ExpressVPN or NordVPN.
Use ExpressVPN to easily bypass censorship >
A professional writer with a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. Since his youngest age, he loves everything related to internet, technology, fitness, games, and dogs! He joined our team in order to bring his deep knowledge in security services, among which VPN is of course a key component.
