Is it possible to access Gmail in China in 2020? Even though Gmail has been blocked since the middle of 2014, it is still possible to check your email using a VPN…as long as you’re prepared.
Here’s a quick explanation of what you need to know in order to access Gmail – or any email address for that matter – while in China.
Gmail is blocked in mainland China, which includes all parts of China except Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.
This means that once you land in China, the moment you try to open your email you’ll find your computer and phone can’t connect to the mail server.
Lots of people use Gmail for daily life and work – oftentimes without even knowing it. Many companies around the world have migrated to GSuite tools (which includes Gmail), even though they use their own email name.
This means that even if your email address reads “[email protected]”, it still might be hosted by Gmail and is therefore blocked in China.
That’s not good.
If you rely on Gmail for communication, as many people do, what are your options to open Gmail in China?
You’re going to want to access your email not only on your computer, but also on your phone. And don’t think you can just migrate to another email provider, because even Yahoo is blocked in China.
Let’s take a deeper look at what’s happening here and how to get around it.
Note: This article contains affiliate links, which means that at no extra cost to you, I will be compensated if you use some of these services I recommend.
Is Gmail Blocked in China?
Yes, Gmail is blocked in China and has been censored since the middle of 2014.
When it comes to being censored within China, Gmail certainly isn’t alone. Starting in 2009, China began blocking a lot of different apps and websites including Facebook, Twitter and a host of different western media websites.
For a while, Google had offices in Beijing and provided search engine services for mainland China. That came to an end in early 2010 when Google refused to censor their searches at the request of the Chinese government.
Within a couple months they packed up their Beijing office and moved everything over to Hong Kong.
China immediately started blocking all Google-related services in retaliation. This includes pretty much any Google service you can think of.
You can’t access YouTube in China, Google search, Google Maps, Google Translate and yes…
…not even Gmail in China.
How to Access Gmail in China | 3 Steps
Time needed: 5 minutes.
It sounds simple enough to figure out a way to connect to Gmail in China, and for the most part it is. I’ll break it down below into 3 simple steps.
- Setup a VPN on your Phone and Computer
Before you even land in China, you’ll want to purchase and install something known as a “Virtual Private Network”, or “VPN” (I use both ExpressVPN and NordVPN here). It’s important to do this before you arrive because China makes it extremely difficult to set this up within the country (most of the VPN websites are blocked).
- Get Access to the Internet in China
Now that you have the VPN installed, you’ll want to make sure you can access the internet once you arrive in China. You can use Wi-Fi in China, but now there are quite a few places that require text verification to access Wi-Fi. You need to either set up international roaming with your provider at home or you can arrange to rent a phone for China.
- Connect to the VPN to Bypass Censorship
Now, you need to connect to a good VPN server outside of China. If you’re using something like my recommended ExpressVPN, it’s as simple as pushing the big “power” button to get connected. Most of the time it connects with ease but there are times when you’ll need to troubleshoot the connection because China clamps down. This means changing servers, changing connection protocols or just trying from a different device. Once you’re connected to a VPN server, you’ll have instant access to any sort of email, including Gmail in China.
What is a VPN? A Brief Explanation
In case you’ve never heard of a VPN before, you can think of it like a tunnel through a wall (for a more detailed description, see What is a VPN?).
Even when China has censored everything, a VPN will tunnel through and allow you to experience the internet as if you were located outside China.
There’s no need to dive into the specifics of how it work, just know that a VPN is used by pretty much any expat who lives in China, including me.
I often get people who ask me “Is it legal to use a VPN in China“? It’s a legitimate question and one that I don’t take lightly when I answer it.
There have been cases where a Chinese person has gotten in trouble for using a VPN and the government talks big about blocking VPNs…and yet it all still works.
Not one foreigner has been punished for using a VPN because, frankly, the government doesn’t really care what we foreigners look at.
Accessing Gmail | Expat Tips & Tricks
In addition to the explanation above, I’d like to share with you some simple tips and tricks that I’ve learned over the years of living in and trying to use Gmail in China. Hopefully you can find some of these helpful to you.
- Notifications vs Apps: For iPhones, you’ll quickly learn that mail notifications come from a different server than your actual app information. In other words, you might get notifications of new emails to your phone even when you’re not on a VPN, but then you can’t open that email unless you’re on a VPN. Don’t be fooled: even if you use the Apple Mail app or another app to access your email, it is still blocked without a VPN.
- Get some Backup: In my experience, China has very unreliable connection when it comes to VPNs. They’ll randomly block IP addresses and sometimes it takes an hour or more for that VPN to react and make changes. In those cases, I always subscribe to at least two VPNs at a time while in China since accessing Gmail is so important to me. For me, I use and recommend ExpressVPN as my primary VPN and then NordVPN as a backup. Why? Both of them have a 30-day money back guarantee, which means that if one of them doesn’t work as well as you hoped when you arrive, you still have your backup and you can return the other one for a refund.
- Download Before You Go: As you might expect, downloading and installing a VPN while in China is quite difficult (the VPN websites themselves are usually blocked in China). It’s best to get it done before you go so that you don’t have the hassle once you arrive in country. Trust me, it’s much better this way.
- Forward Your Email: If you really don’t want to pay a little money for a VPN service, you can forward all your email to a Hotmail account or even open up a Chinese Sina account. It’s not a very professional option and it may be that Hotmail will be blocked too, but at least you can stay connected.
Final Thoughts on Using Gmail in China
It’s quite possible to use Gmail in China – and I hope you have a chance to do so!
Take some time to make sure that you have a good VPN setup on your computer and phone before you travel to China and you should be good to go.
In the same way you access Facebook in China, it takes a little bit of creativity and a little bit of patience, but being able to get a bit of work done and stay connected to your friends and family back home can be worth the effort.
Were you able to use Gmail in China? How did it go for you? Let me know in the comments below.
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Thanks for these tips, Josh, and your VPN suggestions.
My pleasure! I’m glad you found them useful, Giovanni 🙂
Doesnt work. VPNs are also blocked in CHina
Hey Steve, sorry you’re having problems but you’ll be happy to know that VPNs aren’t blocked in China. I use them every day to access the internet.
Hey Josh, I work in china most of the year and express vpn has not let me down once from jilin to xiamen. yes i choose between the 3 servers – los angeles – hk – or tokyo but with literally a minute or two my allowable 3 devices are up giving me access to my essential gmail. i am a brit that can stay 90 days as much as i like over a 2 year period, my mrs is chinese so how come you can live here?
There are numerous visas to live in China – teaching, studying, working, traveling. I’ve had the privilege of having each one of those visas in my passport at one point in time over the past decade.
Josh, Thank you so Much. I was just (Jan 2019) in Wuhan, China and Express VPN worked perfectly. there are very few people in wuhan that speak english so express vpn was essential to be able to use google translate to communicate. I cant thank you enough for putting together this great website.
Hi, I didn’t know I will need the VPN and I’m already in China. I really need to use gmail. Is there any way to download the VPN while already here?
It’s possible! Check out my article about how to install a VPN from within China. That should answer your questions.
why not open a chinese email account (eg. sina mail). forward gmail messages to the local china email account. create a gmail filter to forward emails or create “send email as” under accounts & import
This is certainly possible. It’s also a security compromise, but definitely an option.
Has anyone tried Google fi phone service in China? On Google Fi website, it is said that you can use their phone call, texting, data services in China. I am wondering whether that is true.
Hey Iris, it is true! And some have even said that Google Fi isn’t subject to censorship, although I get conflicting reports about that.
I have a question regarding my chinese bank account. I probably won’t be able to return to china before my residence visa expires in may 2020. Do you know if i can access my money to transfer funds to uk if i return to china on a tourist visa?
You should be able to, yes. The residence visa is only required to open the account, not use it.