2020 China VPN Performance Testing Blog
Happy new year and welcome to the fifth annual China VPN testing blog.
This is the page where you can find real VPN speed tests done in China using my top recommended VPNs for China.
Archive of previous China VPN testing blogs: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019.
Unless stated otherwise, all tests are done from my Guangdong China Telecom 100/20M residential internet connection.
February 15, 2020 - ExpressVPN & WannaFlix
The current time in China is 4:00am. I am still in Canada on an extended vacation due to the Coronavirus situation.
The following tests were done by remote access to my computer at home in China.
According to the ExpressVPN China status page, there was a "new escalation in blocks in China" on February 14 (yesterday). Let's see how the ExpressVPN Windows app is working today.
Although none of servers listed on the status page worked, I was able to get a connection to Los Angeles 4.
ExpressVPN Los Angeles 4 (Windows app)
(NOTE - I didn't notice at the time, but the test server was in Chicago. I should have manually selected a speed test server in Los Angeles to get the correct ping time)
If you have been following the previous year's blog's you will know that the best way to connect to ExpressVPN during VPN crackdowns is to use manual OpenVPN connections instead of the apps.
Here is my guide on how to set this up.
How to set up ExpressVPN manual OpenVPN
ExpressVPN Tokyo 2 (manual OpenVPN)
ExpressVPN San Jose (manual OpenVPN)
ExpressVPN Seattle (manual OpenVPN)
ExpressVPN San Francisco (manual OpenVPN)
I would say that Tokyo 2 and San Jose are the best working servers for ExpressVPN manual OpenVPN connections right now.
Surfshark doesn't seem to be working very well right now. I can't connect to any server using the app and Shadowsocks doesn't seem to be working very well lately either. Many people have commented on the Surfshark guide page that the Shadowsocks servers get blocked soon after finding a working IP. Indeed, all of the IPs that I posted on that page a week ago are no longer working.
I will try to find some more working IPs for Surfshark later today and update if I find anything.
I think the Great Firewall is getting much better at detecting and blocking Shadowsocks. That's why the WannaFlix V2ray service is a very good choice to use right now.
WannaFlix V2ray China Users Hong Kong Netflix (V2rayN Windows app)
WannaFlix V2ray Hong Kong (V2rayN Windows app)
These 2 servers appear to the be the same, but the second one performs much better (lower ping and higher download speed). I think the first one (China Users) is routed through a middle relay server in China before connecting to Hong Kong. The second one is connected directly.
If you have a good internet connection from China Telecom, China Unicom, or China Mobile then I recommend not using the "China Users" labelled servers. However, if you have any ISP besides these 3 then you should use the "China Users" servers. That way, you are using the international bandwidth of the middle servers instead of your own ISP's international bandwidth.
WannaFlix V2ray Singapore 2 (V2rayN Windows app)
The speed of the V2rayN Singapore servers is limited to 30Mbps, but these are high quality CN2 servers hosted on Alibaba. These are the best servers to use during peak bandwidth congestion hours at night.
If you are interested in trying any of the VPNs tested today, here are the latest special offers.
ExpressVPN - Get an extra 3 months free with a 12 month subscription
WannaFlix - Save an extra 30% off any plan
I don't recommend signing up for Surfshark right now. Hopefully their service will work well in China again soon.
Update
I managed to find a working IP for Surfshark Shadowsocks.
Surfshark Vancouver (manual Shadowsocks IP 172.83.40.148)
12:00pm Update: 12VPN
Next up is 12VPN. I am testing with their dedicated app for Windows called VPNGUI. I am using the WEB protocol, which is a custom web proxy similar to Shadowsocks, V2ray, etc.
12VPN CN China 4 SG (VPNGUI app)
The CN China 4 SG and CN China 2 HK special servers are hosted on Alibaba but the speed is limited to 10Mbps.
The best 12VPN server to use for high speed is TW Taipei (old one).
12VPN TW Taipei old one (VPNGUI app)
These 3 servers that I tested are all special servers that you need to add to your account. 12VPN offers a list of special servers that you can add to your account from the website. You can have up to 5 special servers at the same time.
If you want to try 12VPN, use the Tips for China coupon code for 25% off your first billing cycle.
February 17, 2020 - ExpressVPN Hong Kong 3
Thanks to my friend on Twitter who told me that Hong Kong 3 was working.
At first I did not believe him, because the connection failed when I tried. But then I re-tried a few more times.
I couldn't believe my eyes. Hong Kong 3 is finally working again.
ExpressVPN Hong Kong 3 (Windows app)
February 20, 2020 - ExpressVPN Updated Apps
ExpressVPN has released new apps for all devices over the last few days. I'm now using Windows version 7.8.3 and I can connect easily and quickly to all of these locations.
Here are the speeds I am getting on these servers between 5:30am to 6:00am.
You can download the latest app updates from the China Status Page.
March 19, 2020 - ExpressVPN & Surfshark China Performance
ExpressVPN Hong Kong 3 (Windows app - Auto)
Great to see that Hong Kong 3 is still working for me!
I tried to find another ExpressVPN server with good performance but I couldn't find anything that comes even close to Hong Kong 3.
I tried various app servers and OpenVPN servers, but I can't seem to get more than 2-3 Mbps on any of them.
Next up is Surfshark.
The Surfshark app still appears to be completely dead in China, but I was able to find a few working IPs for manual Shadowsocks and OpenVPN connections.
Surfshark Taiwan (manual Shadowsocks IP 103.98.75.73)
Surfshark Japan (manual Shadowsocks IP 84.17.34.45)
Surfshark Japan (manual Shadowsocks IP 45.87.213.87)
The one also works for manual OpenVPN
Surfshark Japan (manual OpenVPN IP 45.87.213.87)
The Japan 45.87.213.87 IP seems to be the best working IP for Surfshark manual SS and OpenVPN right now.
It feels like every single connection I make is today is throttled down to 2-3 Mbps except for ExpressVPN Hong Kong 3.
That's all I have time for right now. Check back again soon for testing of more VPNs.
April 19, 2020
ExpressVPN Hong Kong 3 (Windows app)
ExpressVPN Hong Kong 4 (Windows app)
ExpressVPN Los Angeles 5 (Windows app)
Most of the manual OpenVPN servers are no longer working. However, I was able to connect to Vancouver.
ExpressVPN Vancouver (manual OpenVPN)
Unfortunately I have to stop the testing here because I connected to NordVPN and got locked out of my remote connection to my computer in China. To be continued soon...
April 27, 2020 - WannaFlix is working very well in China
I finally got back into my China computer after some technical difficulties. Before I risk getting locked out again with a bad VPN connection, I am going to test the WannaFlix V2ray service first.
WannaFlix V2ray Hong Kong 2
It looks like WannaFlix changed hosting providers for the V2ray Hong Kong 2 server, which is now hosted on Aliyun Hong Kong. Very stable and low ping.
WannaFlix V2ray Taiwan
WannaFlix V2ray Singapore 1 (load balanced)
The 3 servers I tested are ones without "China Users" in the server name. I found these ones are faster if you have a good internet connection from China Telecom or China Unicom. If you are using a reseller ISP or China Mobile, you will want to use the servers with "China Users" in the name.
WannaFlix is working better than ever. Very stable connections.
Don't forget to use the Tips for China 30% off coupon code if you want to try WannaFlix.
July 30, 2020 - WannaFlix V2Ray vs Surfshark Shadowsocks
Long time no update!
It's a bit difficult to get someone into my apartment in China right now to reboot my computer if I get a bad VPN connection and get locked out of my remote connection. So I will only be testing proxies right now.
First, some good news for Surfshark subscribers.
Surfshark servers IPs are 90% UNBLOCKED
Almost all of the Surfshark server IPs are working in China right now, even without doing the +1 trick for Shadowsocks. Manual OpenVPN connections should be working too, but I won't be testing that today. I wouldn't be surprised if the Surfshark apps were working as well.
Someone please leave a comment if you have tested the Surfshark app recently.
The best location for Surfshark Shadowsocks for China Telecom is Taiwan, but you need to be careful about which IP you use. There are 3 different hosting providers.
Surfshark Taiwan (Serverfield host) - 103.51.140.75
Surfshark Taiwan (The Gigabit host) - 103.4.29.246
Surfshark Taiwan (HostingInside host) - 103.98.74.230
As you can see, the IP hosted on Serverfield has the best latency and speed on a China Telecom connection. You will want to use the IPs in the range of 103.51.140.x range. If you are using China Unicom or China Mobile then you might get better performance with the other ones. Please leave a comment if you do any tests!
It appears that all locations are 90% unblocked. Japan and Hong Kong didn't have very good ping times for me so I didn't bother testing those locations.
The Los Angeles location has good latency (ping) for China to US.
Surfshark Los Angeles - 192.111.134.223
I added +1 to the IPs even though it was not required. I recommend doing this because the main IP will get blocked from people using OpenVPN, but the +1 IP usually doesn't get blocked.
If you want try OpenVPN, you can subtract -1 from the IPs I used.
You can always find your own working IPs for Surfshark manual Shadowsocks and OpenVPN by following this guide.
This method was working great last year for a while but then everything got 99% blocked. Now it appears to be working great again.
It wouldn't recommend using Surfshark as your only VPN in China because everything could get blocked again in the future, but if you take the 2 year deal for $47 it's a great value! Even if it only works some of the time. The Taiwan Serverfield IPs are about the best Shadowsocks connection you can possibly find anywhere for a China Telecom connection.
WannaFlix "China" servers are working better than ever
Next proxy to test is the WannaFlix service using V2Ray. The servers labelled as "China" used to have a very high ping, but that is no longer the case.
WannaFlix [China] Netflix Taiwan
WannaFlix [China] Netflix Japan
WannaFlix [China] Netflix Singapore
Very good performance from both Surfshark (Shadowsocks) and WannaFlix (V2ray) today. I highly recommend both of these services if you are looking for a high speed proxy for China. WannaFlix is more reliable when there are crackdowns, and easier to set up. Surfshark is harder to set up, may not be as reliable during crackdowns, but it's half the price and can perform very good.
If you want to try any of these services, here are the latest special offers.
Surfshark - 2 Years for $47 - Check my guide on how to use it
November 30, 2020 Update
I am currently re-building this website on a new platform, which should be up and running in the next few days. If you don't want to wait, you can find the latest VPN speed tests on the development site.
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