A free and open internet is something we, in Europe and the US, have and take for granted. When talking about China, this country is known for harsh censorship, with the authorities blocking thousands of websites each day, preventing its residents from using even the most popular ones.
The only solution, so far, is to use a reliable VPN for China but in 2024, finding the one that REALLY works is extremely hard. The Great Firewall of China is updated pretty much daily and its ability to detect VPNs is growing increasingly stronger. But one question remains – does NordVPN work in China?
NordVPN is among the most reliable services in 2024, so it’s interesting to see whether or not this tech giant can bypass the Great Firewall. I’ll tell you that it works, albeit, you need to know a few things about it before using it in China.
NordVPN Works in China With This Trick!
In 2024, NordVPN still works in China. However, before you use it in this country, you’ll need to apply a few tricks we’ll show you. If you’re in a hurry and want to start using NordVPN in China right away, watch this:
- Get NordVPN’s subscription. Through our site, you can save more than 60% on the 2-year plan and enjoy all of its features fully.
- Install NordVPN on your device and sign in to the application.
- In Settings, enable the kill switch.
- From the server list, find obfuscated servers and connect to the one you want.
- With the connection in place, go online and surf the internet without limits. NordVPN’s obfuscation will ensure you’re private and unbothered by The Great Firewall of China!
Why Should You Use NordVPN in China?
People who live outside of China, Iran, Belarus, Russia, and other censored countries have no idea what it’s like to have the internet controlled entirely by the government. The Chinese authorities block thousands of websites and in 2024, that number is surely going to grow exponentially.
The problem lies in the fact that we’re talking about very popular social media sites and Google services. Thus, you can’t access Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Gmail, Viber, Skype, and other popular apps and VoIP services in China.
Moreover, the country is known for extreme government surveillance and espionage. An example of that would be their Skype TOM app which serves as a substitute for “classic” Skype, through which the authorities can spy on your conversations.
This means the authorities can not only read your text messages but also spy on your video and audio calls, completely ruining your privacy. Freedom of speech is also degraded here, and criticizing the authorities can lead to some serious consequences.
With all of that in mind, it’s easy to see why people are interested in using NordVPN in China. Is NordVPN working in China in 2024? The good news is that it does and it can easily fix all of the problems I just mentioned.
First of all, NordVPN will encrypt your connection and change your original IP address. This will allow you to go online anonymously without the ability to be tracked and spied on. In China, this is essential for avoiding government surveillance and circumventing censorship.
Another thing is that NordVPN is very capable of unblocking restricted sites. It’ll allow you to access platforms like Netflix and BBC iPlayer in China, as well as a lot of social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter. It is also one of the best VPNs to unblock ChatGPT.
Thanks to its bank-grade encryption, a kill switch, and a no-logging policy, you can be sure your privacy will never be jeopardized even in a country like this. In fact, I recently did a security analysis where I discussed the safety and security of NordVPN, so please check it out for all the relevant details.
Obfuscated Servers in NordVPN: What You Should Know About Them
As said, NordVPN works in China but before you use it, you need to know more about the way it works.
China’s Great Firewall is known for blocking VPN connections among other sites and platforms. It easily detects that a connection is coming from a VPN server, and immediately blocks the user.
To counteract this effect, NordVPN knows that it must hide the fact that you’re using a VPN and make your connection look like a “normal” connection and not like it’s coming from a VPN server. For this to work, the provider introduced obfuscated servers.
Obfuscated servers are a MUST if you’re in China. These servers utilize OpenVPN TCP for this purpose and connecting to them will mask the fact that you’re using a VPN, allowing you to slide under the radar of the Great Firewall.
Obfuscated servers are a standard feature of NordVPN and in the following guide, I’ll show you how to activate and use them for bypassing censorship. For now, it’s vital to know that, if you want to make NordVPN work in China, you must use obfuscated servers.
These servers will also help you bypass many other firewall restrictions so that you can use the VPN in your school, workplace, or any other environment with limited internet access.
How to Use NordVPN in China
If you’re still wondering if NordVPN is working in China, by now, you should know that the answer is positive. However, let’s see how to use its service in China and enable obfuscated servers that will let you bypass the Great Firewall swiftly.
1. Subscribe to NordVPN and Set It Up
NordVPN isn’t a free VPN, so to use it, you’ll have to subscribe to it. I recommend taking advantage of its big discount on the 2-year plan, which is also its cheapest deal. You can get it using the button below. Click on it and follow the steps to subscribe to the service.
Beware that the provider offers a 30-day refund policy as well, and it comes with no specific conditions. As a result, you can always get a refund if you’re not satisfied as long as you request it in the first 30 days of your purchase.
If you’re planning to travel to China soon, make sure you subscribe to NordVPN before you arrive. Otherwise, China blocks even VPN sites, so it’s not guaranteed that you’ll be able to visit NordVPN’s site and subscribe there.
Once the subscription process is complete, it’s time to set up NordVPN. Simply download its apps to your devices and sign in to all of them. The provider gives you 6 simultaneous connections per subscription, so you can protect plenty of devices at the same time.
NordVPN’s app on Windows looks like this after you sign in, and it looks almost the same on iOS, Android, and macOS, with the exception of Linux where it doesn’t have a GUI.
2. Open NordVPN and Enable the Kill Switch
Once you open the app, you first need to make sure the VPN kill switch is enabled. A kill switch will shut down your internet connection if you lose the VPN connection, ensuring you don’t leak your IP address and jeopardize your privacy.
If you want to use NordVPN in China, I STRONGLY recommend enabling it just to make sure you’re not detected by the authorities. Click on the Gear icon to open Settings. Now, select Kill Switch and set Internet Kill Switch to ON.
To make sure you’re 100% safe and secure, select the second option that prevents internet access even when you manually disconnect from a VPN.
3. Connect to an Obfuscated Server and Go Online
With everything set up, you’ll need to connect to one of the obfuscated servers to use NordVPN in China in 2024. Open the server list from the home screen and find obfuscated servers. By clicking once on this option, NordVPN will connect you to the fastest server.
However, if you want a server in a particular country, click on the three horizontal dots next to obfuscated servers and choose the country from the drop-down list. At the moment, the service offers obfuscated servers in 16 countries, so you have plenty to choose from.
Nevertheless, once NordVPN connects to an obfuscated server, you’ll see a small icon next to the server you’re using, as shown in the screenshot above. This “Incognito” icon implies that you’re using an obfuscated server.
So, is NordVPN working in China with this setup? Well, it’s up to you to try it now. Open your browser and try visiting a website that’s been blocked without using NordVPN. If you did everything well, it should work and you should be able to browse the web without issues.
NordVPN Not Working in China: How to Fix It?
Some users reported that NordVPN isn’t working in China and if you’ve ever used a VPN, you know that issues like these can arise. However, it’s not the end of the world, as there are a few variables that can influence the VPN connection that can be fixed easily.
If NordVPN isn’t working in China for you, you should first make sure you completed the steps we presented a minute ago. It’s vital to enable the kill switch and use obfuscated servers. Otherwise, the provider most likely won’t work since other servers aren’t optimized for this purpose.
If you can’t use obfuscated servers for some reason, make sure your protocol isn’t set strictly to NordLynx or OpenVPN UDP. Instead, set your protocol to “Auto (Recommended)” in Settings to let the service decide which protocol to use according to your location and other factors.
Furthermore, the issue can stem from your browser cache. Cookies and cache are stored in your browser and can be used to detect your real location, which can contradict your VPN connection which aims to help you get an IP from another country.
In case this is the issue, clear your browser cache and see if you can go online properly. Another method is to use a different browser, which might also work. If you still can’t use NordVPN in China, try connecting to another obfuscated server in the same or different country.
Or perhaps, use a recommended obfuscated server and let NordVPN decide on the best server to use in China. In many cases, this works without issues, and people can use the VPN normally. Did everything I mentioned fail? Well, feel free to contact its support through live chat.
It’s available 24/7 and will help you with issues like this. Or you can, as an alternative, try to use ExpressVPN in China instead. I recently talked about it and mentioned that it’s the most reliable VPN to use in this country, making it a great alternative in case you can’t make this one work for whatever reason.
Bottom Line
So, after all, does NordVPN work in China in 2024? Well, the answer is a loud and clear YES, as long as you know how to utilize its full potential. No doubt, obfuscated servers do an amazing job of bypassing the Great Firewall and letting you explore the internet even in a censored country like China.
In addition, NordVPN is known to work in many other censored countries, such as Russia, the UAE, and even Iran which also blocks VPN connections efficiently. NordVPN offers blazing-fast speeds, 5,400 worldwide servers, and a certified no-logging policy that guarantees your privacy.
All of this makes NordVPN one of the best VPNs in 2024 that you can get for a pretty affordable price. Yet, despite not being expensive, it still works in China and offers both streaming and torrenting capabilities, allowing for a varied online experience with no limits.
FAQ
Finishing off this guide, let’s address a few important questions related to the subject.
Can I subscribe to NordVPN in China?
Most likely no, as the Great Firewall blocks VPN sites as well. However, if you live in China and you’re not a tourist, there’s still a way to get VPNs. My recommendation is to travel to Hong Kong, an uncensored region of China that still has a good degree of online freedom.
VPNs work in this part, so when you’re there, you can freely visit NordVPN’s site, get a subscription, install it on your devices, and get back to the Mainland. Alternatively, you can visit some of the tourist hotels, connect to their network, and download NordVPN.
These hotels offer an uncensored WiFi network to accommodate tourists from all over the world. This will allow you to freely get NordVPN and enjoy it later on when you’re back home.
Is using NordVPN in China legal?
Yes, it is legal, despite all the VPN blocks in China. The authorities actually forbid VPNs mainly for corporations and companies, while individuals can use them freely. Some people reported that the police asked them to delete VPN apps from their phones during random police searches.
However, this is a rare practice and most likely won’t affect you. If it does, you won’t face any legal issues if you comply with the law and do what you’re told. So far, we don’t know of any users ending up in jail for using a VPN, although creating your own VPN and selling it is against the law.
Will NordVPN work in China if I’m not using obfuscated servers?
That isn’t guaranteed. Obfuscated servers are optimized for bypassing firewall restrictions, so they’ll work in at least 90% of the cases. Outside of obfuscated servers, NordVPN mainly uses its NordLynx protocol, which cannot bypass censorship efficiently.
As such, not using obfuscated servers will most likely result in being blocked and not being able to use NordVPN in China.
