Hi there, you might have gotten to this article for one of two reasons. You either want to access Chinese content from outside of China, or you are looking for a way to access the internet freely while you are located in China. So in short, this might either be one fo the following two scenarios :
- As a Chinese expat/student/tourist you might want to access Chinese websites that have geolocation restrictions, in other words they are blocked from outside of China.
- China is well known for being one of the countries with strictest Internet censorship rules, they dont call the Great Firewall of China by that name without merit. And you want to access the Internet freely without censorship or geolocation restrictions.
Luckily, there is a workaround. Even better, the same workaround works for both of the scenarios above.
How to get a Chinese IP address abroad
How to access the Internet unrestricted from within China
As said China does censor the Internet quite a bit. As such having a VPN from within China has the following benefits
- Your traffic becomes encrypted, end of the story. It becomes unreadable to censors.
- You can access any websites that are restricted by the Great Firewall of China
- You can access content back at home , such as in the USA, UK, Australia etc. All you have to do is choose a VPN server in the VPN app that is in the country you want to access. Honestly, it is a 3 click process.
Keep in mind though. It is BEST if you purchase a VPN subscription before you head for China, as VPN sites are censored as well.
How to Get a Chinese IP Address While Outside Of China
This is the reverse process. You are outside of China and you want to access local newspapers/social media sites/news sites/streaming sites that are in China, but restrict access to those sites from outside of China. A few examples are below, please let me know in the comments section if there are other sites worth mentioning.
- CCTV,
- Tencent
- iQiyi
- Youku
- Bilibili
- QQ Music
- PPTV
Again you get a VPN subscription and you do connect to a Chinese server in this case.
OK, so what is a VPN ?
A VPN or Virtual Private Network is a service that allows you to encrypt and tunnel your Internet traffic. As a result your traffic is encrypted and unreadable. As an additional benefit you can bypass any censorship or geolocation restrictions. All you need to do is subscribe to a VPN and connect to a VPN server with the location you want. Let me explain. A VPN connects your device to one of its servers and allows you to browse the Internet with that connection. The data exchanged passes through a private network- which the VPN creates- your device uses that tunnel and exits the tunnel at the VPN servers location. Imagine having a tunnel under the borderline of two countries, that tunnel allows you to go from one country to the next without being detected. To get a VPN you need to do the following :
- Sign up with a VPN.
- Download and install your VPN app on your PC, Mac, Android or iOS device.
- Launch the application and sign in.
- Select a server in a country you wish to cloak your location to and connect to it.
- Check your IP address via our IP Identifier to make sure a change has been made.
- Now, you can surf the Internet with your Chinese IP address as if you are located in China.
Not all VPNs work in China, which is why we recommend that you subscribe to ExpressVPN. This VPN service ranks very high in terms of privacy and security. Additionally, it does a great job with unblocking content from all around the world including China. Given that this article does attend to a lot of different nationalities, I can point out that ExpressVPN does have one of the biggest VPN server networks with 190 countries covered. If you want to use another VPN provider, check the table below. We have reviewed and tested all of them.
- 30-Day Money-back Guarantee
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Let’s Sum It Up
A Chinese IP address is necessary for Chinese people who are either working abroad or on vacation. With a Chinese IP address, they can access all Chinese-based web services as if they didn’t even leave China. One more benefit is that a Chinese address can come in handy for those who want to buy directly from Chinese manufacturers.
On the other hand, keep in mind that the Chinese government is very strict when it comes to Internet access. So you can gain unlimited and uncensored Internet access, with access to geo-restricted site globally by using a VPN. Just keep in mind, get your VPN subscription before you head to China.
