I was in China for a month last year, and staying connected was honestly tougher than I expected. My Google Maps wouldn’t load, WhatsApp was basically dead, and even Instagram wouldn’t refresh. I tried a few random VPN apps from the app store, but most of them didn’t work once I got there. I’m curious — how did you guys manage to stay online and use your usual apps when traveling through China? Any tricks that actually worked for you?

I didn’t use any fancy tools, but I noticed most travelers had something like a preloaded VPN ready to go. A couple of digital nomads I met in hostels said they’d tested their connections before entering the country. They didn’t seem to struggle much once everything was configured. It’s kind of wild how much smoother the trip goes when you plan the tech side ahead of time.

Yeah, I ran into the same issue a couple of years back when I was backpacking around Yunnan. What helped me a ton was checking out vpn for china https://topchinavpns.com/vpn-china/ before I left. They had a list of VPNs that actually still work inside China, which saved me from wasting time on blocked ones. I downloaded and set everything up before landing, and that made a huge difference. My advice: don’t wait until you’re already there to sort it out.