Best VPNs for Shanghai

Shanghai, ChinaShanghai, China is the largest city in the world with a population of more than 24 million people. It is a global financial center and transportation hub, with the world’s busiest container port. There are many reasons to visit Shanghai and it is considered to be the showpiece of the booming mainland Chinese economy. If you plan to visit soon, you will not want to use the internet without a VPN. It will help protect your privacy and unblock restrictions. Here are some of the best VPN services to use in Shanghai.

RankVPN ServiceOur
Score
Server
Locations
Visit
1ExpressVPN9.8160ExpressVPN
2NordVPN9.487NordVPN
3Private Internet Access9.295PIA
4IPVanish9.073IPVanish

Shanghai’s history dates back to 771 BC and goes to a time before China was unified. The name translates into “Upon the Sea”. While there is some debate over how the name should be applied, the city was literally on the sea during the Tang Dynasty. Because of the alternative name, you will see the name Shen as part of sports teams and newspapers.

As you can see, the city has a long history. These days, there are many things that attract people and businesses to Shanghai. That includes the Shanghai Pilot Free-Trade Zone, Shanghai University, historical and futuristic buildings, amusement parks, museums, and many more. No matter what you want to do in the area, from business to pleasure, you can find it there.

China has a strange balance between modern western civilization, ancient Chinese culture, and hardline values. When there, you may almost forget you are in a Communist country. However, you will quickly remember if you try to use the internet. China has a firewall that is often referred to as the “Great Firewall of China”. That is why the first reason to use a VPN while there is to help you get around censorship and restrictions. By connecting to a VPN server in another location, you will make the software believe you are located somewhere else.

The next reason to use a VPN while there is to help protect your privacy. It is common knowledge that the Chinese government monitors internet traffic. By connecting to the VPN server of your choice, you create a secure connection to a server. That way, you don’t compromise your data. Keep in mind, though, it may be tough to completely block the government from monitoring you while there. If they really want to do so, they will find a way. In the case of China, we recommend using a scramble (obfuscation) feature that all of the VPNs in our post offer to help hide your activities from the Chinese authorities.

Those are the two main reasons why using a VPN is crucial in China. However, you may discover other uses once you sign up for service. From getting around the GFC to protecting your privacy, VPNs will help you accomplish your goals. Now that you see why it is important, let’s talk about the VPN providers.

What is the best VPN for Shanghai?

Let’s take a closer look at our list of the best VPNs for Shanghai.


1. ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN Devices

Get 3 months free with 12 months of our #1 rated VPN

ExpressVPN Shanghai speed test

A good reason to use ExpressVPN has to do with censorship. Whether you live in a restrictive country or plan to visit one, it is not hard to run into governmental restrictions. From political speech to social media to other types of banned content, ExpressVPN does a great job of protecting your privacy while you navigate the web. Since the company offers so many different server locations, you won’t have to worry about speed losses because you are trying to connect to a server outside your current region.

One of the things that ExpressVPN is good at will allow you to gain access to international libraries of content, such as with Netflix or Amazon Prime Video. Both these popular streaming services offer access to different titles depending on your location. From the massive US library to the UK, Canada, or India, we feel you should be able to access all of the content when you travel outside your home region. You can use the ExpressVPN MediaStreamer feature or connect to a VPN server to help break through those barriers.

The ExpressVPN team goes the extra mile to provide a feature rich service. They are also strong privacy advocates. They offer a $5,000 Future of Privacy scholarship every year to help promote privacy among college students. Just a quick example of their dedication to spreading the message of privacy around the world. Just as important, they offer a premium network to allow for fast connections. This makes the service an excellent choice for downloading and streaming. Test their network for yourself with their 30-day money-back guarantee. Sign up for 12 months and get 3 months free with our ExpressVPN deal.

Visit ExpressVPN

2. NordVPN

NordVPN devices
NordVPN Shanghai speed test

When you take a look at encryption protocols, NordVPN has you covered. Instead of dealing with some of the less secure ones like PPTP, the company offers you three different alternatives to use. Whether you like the highly adaptable IKEv2, known as an NGE (Next Generation Encryption) protocol, OpenVPN (which many experts consider to be the gold standard), or the newcomer to the group, NordLynx (a proprietary protocol that uses WireGuard technology), you can find them all with NordVPN. While some may worry about using WireGuard because of the flaws, the company made its protocol to address those issues.

If you are concerned about getting everything set up with NordVPN, you are in luck. While they have great how-to pages and guides to set everything up correctly, they still offer you their 24/7 support network. The website states that they will respond in 24 hours if you decide to email them. If you need a faster response, they give you the option of chatting with someone live. That is perfect for those pressing questions you may have.

Visit NordVPN

3. Private Internet Access

Private Internet Access devices
PIA Shanghai speed test

For everyone looking for specific privacy features, Private Internet Access uses an integrated firewall that has the advanced filtering abilities of the Netfilter Project. In other words, you won’t get any unwanted connections to your mobile device or computer. The filtering software delivers the best possible performance and keeps all of the network intrusions away. That way, the only outside openings to the internet are the ones you create. That is one of the ways that Private Internet Access helps keep you safe.

If you are a gamer or have been in the past, you know how easy it is to put resources into your favorite game. Luckily, Private Internet Access knows that as well. If you want to protect your in-game assets in your favorite games, what you need to do is connect to a VPN. By doing so, you will create a layer of encryption that will help stop hackers from stealing your data. While it won’t protect you from all harm, it will undoubtedly add to your security.

Visit Private Internet Access

4. IPVanish

IPVanish devices
IPVanish Shanghai speed test

IPVanish includes a nice addon called SugarSync cloud storage with their VPN service. While they are not the only ones to offer that type of benefit for their users, they were one of the first. It provides you with 250 GB of free cloud storage space. No matter what items you choose to store, it will help you make sure that you do not lose any non-replaceable documents, images, or files that you want to keep safe. That way, when something happens to your phone or computer, you don’t have to worry.

If you are worried about protecting your online activities, IPVanish has you covered. Despite being located in the United States, the company has a no-logs policy. That means they do not keep logs or records of activity history. By not doing so, they do not have data to share when requests for that information come in. If you, too, believe that the internet should be open and free of censorship or prying eyes of governments, you can’t go wrong by choosing IPVanish as your VPN provider.

Visit IPVanish
VPN Fan
A VPN service will help protect your online privacy and unblock sites from around the world. We support a free and open Internet.