Using the internet in China

Assume you cannot. Most VPN websites are unreachable from inside mainland China, and the Chinese App Store does not list VPN apps — so the obvious fix is itself blocked.

Install the app, sign in, and connect once before you fly. If you are reading this from inside China already, the Hong Kong download mirror often still works, and support can send you a direct link.

Yes — for paying for almost anything in China, not just for us. Both accept foreign Visa and Mastercard now, but adding the card involves verification steps that are far easier on a normal internet connection.

If you would rather not, you can pay us in USDT, and on iPhone you can buy inside the app with your Apple ID (an App Store in-app purchase).

We are not lawyers and this is not legal advice. In practice, foreign visitors and business travellers routinely use VPNs to reach their own email, cloud tools and messaging apps, and hotels catering to international guests generally expect it.

What the rules formally target is unlicensed VPN providers operating inside the country, not a tourist reading Gmail. If your trip involves anything sensitive, ask your employer's legal or security team rather than a VPN company's FAQ.

Not on a mainland connection. Messages will not send and calls will not connect. With DopeVpn running it behaves normally, including voice and video calls.

Google Maps is blocked and, even with a VPN, its mainland map data is poor. Most visitors use Apple Maps (which works without a VPN) or Amap for navigation, and Didi for taxis.

Keep the VPN for Gmail, Drive, Calendar and messaging — that is where it really matters.

Yes, on both, including local SIMs and eSIM data plans from China Mobile, Unicom and Telecom.

Hotel Wi-Fi is often the slower part of the chain. If a route feels congested the app moves to a faster one automatically.

Yes. Traffic to Chinese sites and apps goes direct rather than through the tunnel, so WeChat, Alipay, Didi, Meituan and Xiaohongshu stay fast and will not repeatedly ask you to log in.

Not on a mainland connection — OpenAI blocks Chinese IP addresses outright, on top of the local block. With DopeVpn it works, and AI traffic is routed over addresses that these services do not flag, so you are not stuck in an endless loop of human-verification checks.

Three at the same time on one account — typically phone, laptop and tablet. Signing in on a fourth disconnects the one that has been idle longest.

iPhone / iPad on iOS 16 or later (App Store outside mainland China); Android 8 or later (APK); Windows 10 / 11, 64-bit; macOS on Apple Silicon (M-series); Linux (.deb / AppImage).

The iPhone app needs iOS 16 or later. It is on the App Store in most countries, but not in the mainland China store — another reason to install it before you fly.

12 servers across 8 regions: Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, United States (Los Angeles), Germany (Frankfurt), United Kingdom (London), France (Marseille). Main lines are AnyTLS and Hysteria2 through relay servers; the backup line is VLESS + WebSocket over a CDN. The app tests and switches between them automatically.

Quarterly and Yearly subscribers also get an exclusive premium line with fewer users.

Open the app and run Network check under Settings: it tests your device network, your plan, the VPN connection, the exit route and real site reachability, then tells you which one is broken and what to do.

Blocking patterns do change during sensitive dates. When one route degrades we move users onto others; switching lines in the app usually takes a few seconds.

That usually means the website entrance is being interfered with, not that your account or the servers are down. Try the app first: open it and press connect. The app carries several fallback entrances and switches between them on its own — there is nothing for you to type in, and no DNS to change.

If you need the website itself (to sign in, renew, or download the installer again), use our backup entrance at https://pubanban.app — same account, same plan. The Windows installer is at https://pubanban.app/download/dopevpn-windows.exe and the Android APK at https://pubanban.app/download/dopevpn-android.apk.

If your hotel or home Wi-Fi fails, try once on Chinese mobile data. The three Chinese carriers hand out IPv6 on mobile far more reliably than fixed-line broadband does, and some of our servers offer an IPv6 route — pick the entry with IPv6 in its name in the server list.

Still stuck? Email [email protected]. Email keeps working when the web does not, and we will reply with an entrance that is live right now. Save that address to your phone before you fly, along with this page — the day you need it is the day you cannot open it.

3 days free when you sign up, with 2 GB of data per day (resets at 08:00 Beijing time (00:00 UTC)), no card required. Use it to confirm the app installs, signs in and connects while you are still at home — that is the whole point of trying it early.

Monthly, Quarterly and Yearly plans bought on the website can be refunded within 7 days, no questions asked — the money goes back to your DopeVpn account balance, not to the original card or wallet. The Weekly Pass is not refundable, and App Store purchases are refunded by Apple rather than by us. Full conditions are on the refund policy page.