phone setup (wechat and vpn) when travelling to China

[matteo]

I'm trying to understand if I need a VPN for my upcoming trip to China. 

I never used in my shorter trips before but now I'm wondering if I'll need to check my email, or maybe retrieve some document in dropbox or whatnot.

I never used a VPN before so not sure I understand well how it works. Do I download it on my phone like an app, then use it regardless of what SIM card is in the phone?

 

Other question is, if I swap my sim card for a Chinese one, will I still be able to use my WeChat, or do I need to create a brand new account? 

[Moshen]

I used a VPN on my 2019 trip to China, which lasted about a month.  I wanted to be able to keep up with un-blocked US news and in case something important from home came up where the site was blocked in China. (Paypal? Can't remember what worried me particularly.)

 

I used NordVPN and downloaded it to both my laptop and my phone.  It worked in China about 2/3 of the time.   The phone app installation was easier than the laptop one.  Basically your device will first connect to one of the VPN servers - NordVPN had them in Japan, Los Angeles, Singapore among other locations - and then you do your usual online rounds while seeming to be logging in from Japan, LA, or wherever the server is.  I think the reason it only worked sometimes was that 1)we might have been in a remote part of China and 2)the VPNs play a cat-and-mouse game with the Chinese authorities and are constantly updating the app to bypass censorship.  I would definitely use NordVPN again, but install it sooner before my trip because getting the laptop app working required tech support from them.

 

Back in 2019 someone here said they got US news from the MSN Start app, which curates US news from across the political spectrum and isn't blocked in China.  It gives you access to selected articles in Newsweek, Time, NY Times, Washington Post, Atlantic, ABC, Bloomberg, Washington Times, etc.  I liked this app so much I kept it and still look at it most days for wide-ranging news articles.

 

Hope this helps!

[Lu]

I used Express for my last stay in China, November 2019. I don't remember how it all worked, but I do remember it was all very easy and straightforward. I'm not that handy with computer or phone things, but I figured it all out quite effortlessly.

You can use a VPN on your phone regardless of sim card, though I couldn't tell you the technicalities (see: not that handy with computers).

 

Wechat is usually installed on your phone, and you keep the same account on the app if you change sim cards. You can just use the app as you did before. I believe there are some Wechat functionalities that only work if you have a Chinese sim card/bank account/ID, but I'm afraid I don't know how all that works.

[Jim]

MSN no longer works via the local Internet, it defaults to the Mainland China site. Quite annoying, especially when it's some innocuous sports link. AP News still works though, as do a couple of the UK news channels, Sky News and ITV.

[Moshen]

Quote

MSN no longer works via the local Internet, it defaults to the Mainland China site.

 

Jim, I'm curious: Does that happen even if you're using a VPN that "logs in" from Japan or LA?

[Jim]

On 8/22/2023 at 12:42 AM, Moshen said:

Jim, I'm curious: Does that happen even if you're using a VPN that "logs in" from Japan or LA?

TBH I rarely fire up the VPN these days as I only have it working on an old laptop and when I do use it it's for a few specific research tasks so not really noticed but would imagine it doesn't, looks like something Chinese censors have requested.

[becky82]

I use this one: https://glados.rocks/  You install Clash as per the instructions here and you copy/paste a URL from the website into the app (to get it to use your account).