Planning a trip to China?

You’re already picturing yourself at the Great Wall and the Bund in Shanghai.

But you may be forgetting something important.

5 Things You Need to Know Before You Travel to China

You’ve organized your itinerary, hotel, and sightseeing that’s everything, right?

China currentlycensors more than 10,000 different websitesacross the internet.

That includes nearly all of the sites we take for granted, likeGoogle, Facebook, and Twitter.

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Why Does China Censor the Internet?

The Communist Party of China currentlycensors all forms of media, and the internet is no exception.

The motives behind the extensive censorship imposed by the government are multifaceted.

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5 Things you better Know Before You Travel to China

1.

Not being able to use the popular navigation app is something that confuses a lot of visitors to China.

You candownload Baidu Mapsonto your phone, or access translation apps likeHanping or Plecoto help you ask for directions.

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Also, here’s our guide to how toaccess Gmail in China.

Unfortunately,all of the major social media sites and messaging apps are blocked in China.

Therefore, you probably won’t be able to access any meaningful news during your stay.

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However, China blocks other streaming sites too, such asYouTube.

But if it has to be YouTube, read our guide toaccessing YouTube in China.

This is because China usesdifferent mobile web connection frequenciesthan those in other countries.

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If it is, you may still need to activate international roaming orpurchase a Chinese SIM card.

Since international roaming fees are usually very expensive, a SIM card can be the better option.

To find out more, check out our guide togetting your smartphone to work in China.

But it’s absolutely essential to use therightVPN.

Currently,VPNs are illegal in China except forgovernment-approved VPNs, which are not secureor safe to use.

To make matters worse, the Great Firewall is famously powerful and adept atdetecting and blocking VPN traffic.

The good news is that there areVPNs that work in China.Our recommendation isExpressVPN.

ExpressVPN works in Chinafor several reasons.

First, it doesn’t have any servers in the country, helping it to stay undetected.

Here’s a list of thebest free VPNs for China.

Your data is exposed to the websites you visit!

Visit ExpressVPN

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