CHINA VPN
Does Nord VPN work well here in China? I put out a poll on my Instagram asking followers who live in China which VPN they use.
I’ve collated a few opinions from those who have experience using Nord VPN in China. Let’s find out what they think.
Nord Users Opinions
“I used Nord VPN when I first arrived in China but it gave me terrible connection troubles. At one stage it didn’t even connect even though I paid a full yearly subscription. They didn’t even want to refund me. They kept emailing me a long list of things I had to do, then I did it and it still didn’t work. But the other night I heard a few people are using it and loving it. They have android phones, not apple. Not sure if that can have an impact.”
“I came to China in August 2018. Four days before I left Italy I downloaded and paid for a one-year Nord VPN subscription. I installed it on my laptop (which is not an Apple device). Once I arrived in Shanghai I initially had issues using Nord VPN with my phone because it’s an iPhone. And, Nord VPN doesn’t work on Apple devices. But I discovered that too late.”
“I’ve only heard good things about it. When VPNs go down they are usually the ones that manage to stay running. Or they end up being the last ones to go down.”
It really depends on what city you’re in. My VPN, Astrill works fabulously for me in Tianjin but sometimes I have connection issues when I travel to Beijing. The VPN connections work differently depending on where you are in China.
“I used Nord VPN for two weeks in China. The authentication may be a bit slow but the connection is pretty stable once it gets hooked up. Plus, battery consumption is satisfying.”
“I used Nord for the first two months in China but somewhere around New Year, it stopped working. Since then I have not been able to connect to any server.”
Sensitive times in China means that most VPNs get a little squeeze and have more downtime than usual. From my experience, Nord does seem to go down, as does Express. However, Express is the most popular in China. And, Astrill doesn’t usually go down but gets a little slower.
“It’s good. The Nord interface is friendly. I like being able to choose which country I connect to. It works well most of the time. During country-wide shakedowns, it seems that Nord and Express are similar when it comes to difficulties with connecting.”
If you want to be able to watch Netflix you need a VPN that can choose different servers around the world like Nord, Express, and Astrill.
“From July 2018 to November 2018 Nord had been working really well on my laptop and on my iPhone. But around December 2018 it hasn’t been working on my phone. They told me to add servers manually to my phone configuration and that worked for a while but I would have to manually add servers every week. Eventually, that stopped working too and I just got a new VPN for my phone.”
“I don’t know a soul that uses Nord VPN. I use Express but it’s been kind of hit and miss the last couple of weeks. But I always manage to connect eventually. When I first arrived in August 2018 it worked like a charm for about 8 months.”
“I used Nord VPN for half a year. It’s not as good as I expected. Sometimes it’s not working, you have to disconnect and connect again even though I was in premium, not a free trial.”
Why Is Everyone Using VPNs In China?
The Chinese government actively blocks lots of the internet that the rest of the world can see. Platforms like Google, YouTube, SnapChat, Instagram, Facebook, Hulu, and most importantly — in my life — Netflix can’t be viewed here in China.
If you’d like to know more about what VPNs are and why they are used read this article.
Price comparison
Let me tell you the prices of all three top VPNs so you have a benchmark of what you’re likely to pay per year or per month.
Express VPN
$8.32 per month
1-year contract
Astrill VPN
$8.33 per month
1-year contract
Nord VPN
$6.99 per month
1-year contract
What VPN Do I Use?
I personally use Astrill VPN. However, Express is the most popular VPN. I know this because I did a big poll on Instagram, where I asked all my followers here in China what VPN they used. The majority said Express.
Poll Results
If you want to watch the video where I conducted the poll of my followers to see what the most popular VPN is, simply click here.
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Welcome to the Elementary Chinese blog! If you’re new here, hello 👋🏾 and welcome. I’m so pleased you’re here. Check out the resources page for all the tools you need to succeed. Need advice about VPNs? Head over to my VPN master guide and if you’re in need of a book to help you along your Chinese language learning journey then read this post.
A quick and important disclosure:
Some of the links above are affiliate links, which means that if you choose to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you. I recommend them because they are helpful and useful.
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