How to Access YouTube in China

One of the biggest challenges for people who live or visit China now and then is to get access to the most popular streaming platforms, including YouTube, as one of the most used by internet users to watch videos. In this article, we'll bring you the most effective VPN services to access YouTube in China and how to connect to a VPN in China to get unlimited online access.

As we all know, China blocks many of the most popular and wanted channels, applications, and websites. As a user myself, I find it really frustrating to face many restrictions on what I can reach online.

In the following, we'll give you options on how to access YouTube in China using VPN services. Note that not all VPN services can do that; that's simply because of the Great Firewall of China, which has been developed to impose high censorship on what people can do online. That's not all. China has also blocked any other applications under Google's umbrella, including Gmail, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp.

Let's see how to bypass China's sophisticated censorship.

As an effective and widely used technology, virtual private network services (VPN) have been greatly used by internet users to unblock online restricted content and surf the web anonymously.

There's plenty of options on the market, which makes it hard to decide. However, not many VPN services can bypass China's censorship. As a first step, choose a VPN service that'll guarantee to get you access to YouTube, along with all other blocked Google applications in China.

To watch YouTube in China, we recommend the following VPN services.

1. NordVPN
 

NordVPN is our best recommendation to access Youtube in China.

As one of the leaders with millions of customers and over 5400 servers distributed over 59 countries, NordVPN has a reputable place among many VPN services. We chose Nord to start with for many reasons, as we believe it's the #1 VPN on the market, and it offers many features that you can trust.

I assume many people don't pay much attention to the country where a VPN headquarter is based. Believe it or not, this detail makes a difference when you choose a VPN service. Let's explain this further, a VPN service based inside the 5/9/13 Eyes Alliance is considered a possible security threat as these countries are known to spy on their citizens and share information internally.

NordVPN is based in Panama, which is outside the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance. This ensures that NordVPN, under any circumstances, won't share users' information with authorities or any third parties. For people who want to use NordVPN in China, we say it is a perfect choice.

Any other reasons to choose NordVPN? Well, there are many. Let's move on to the Warrant Canary, an indirect method to warn customers of governmental attempts to subpoena. It also has specialized servers for torrenting and gaming.

YouTube is just one of many streaming platforms that NordVPN can unblock in China, besides the following: Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, ESPN, Amazon Prime Video, HBO GO, and Hotstar.

For people who want to select which application to use through a VPN, NordVPN offers the split-tunneling feature. The split-tunneling feature is favorable when you wish to use a VPN service on a particular application but want to exclude other applications or web browsing from being used under a VPN's IP address.
 

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2. ExpressVPN
 

With ExpressVPN, wherever you are, you'll find a server nearby. It has over 3000 servers distributed in 94 countries. It also has its own protocol (Lightway) that is both fast and secure to use Youtube in China. Not many VPN services offer a protocol that can be used for a fast and secure connection. Usually, VPN providers offer several protocols to choose from for each purpose.

ExpressVPN has a true no-log policy; a true no-log policy means no one, including the VPN provider, can see to save any of your information. Other than that, ExpressVPN is based in the British Virgin Islands, which is outside of the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance.

Regarding streaming and torrenting, ExpressVPN has servers that support gaming and torrenting. Besides YouTube, ExpressVPN unblocks Netflix U.S., UK, Canada, Portugal, and the Middle East. In addition to that, you can use ExpressVPN to unblock Amazon Prime Video in the U.S. and UK, Disney+ (all countries), Hulu, B.B.C. iPlayer, HBO, and ESPN+.

Many VPN providers struggle to bypass the highly sophisticated restrictions imposed by China, but we can tell you that ExpressVPN is not one of them. It is one of the most secure snd trusted VPN services.

It offers three different subscriptions, let's get to know more in detail:

1-month plan: $12.95 per month.
6-month plan: $9.99 per month, billed $59.95 every 6 months.
15-month plan: $6.67 per month, billed $99.95 for the first 15 months and 12 months thereafter.
 

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3. SurfShark
 

SurfShark has over 3200 servers distributed in 65 countries, which guarantees that you'll find a server nearby wherever you are.

SurfShark also has much to offer regarding security; it has a true no-log policy, RAM-based servers, a kill switch, and a Warrant Canary. SurfShark is located in the British Virgin Islands, which means outside the jurisdiction of the 5/9/14 Eyes Alliance.

Besides YouTube, SurShark can easily access popular platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, Kodi, and Disney+. It also unblocks DAZN, BBC iPlayer, ESPN+, NBC Sports YouTube TV, Sling TV, fuboTV, Yle, and Abema TV.

Other VPN providers can access some or almost all the previously mentioned streaming platforms. However, few can access them while in China. That's why we think SurfShark has a lot to offer for internet users.

It's not even hard to play your favorite games and visit torrent websites with SurfShark, even if you're in China. It has optimized servers for both.

There are three subscriptions, including One-month, 6-month, and 24-month subscriptions, as follows:

1-month subscription: $12.95 per month.
6-month subscription: $6.49 per month (6-month payment).
24-month subscription: $2.49 per month (24-month payment).
 

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connecting to a VPN, as we said earlier, is the most effective way to bypass geo-restrictions in China. In this section, we'll discuss the steps in detail.

• Choose a VPN service that works in China.
• Download and install a VPN on your device.
• Connect to a server in a location where YouTube is accessible. Note that different locations may suggest different content. If you wish to get the best access to YouTube content, choose a server that is located in the US.
• Open YouTube in a different browsing tab, or if you're using the YouTube application, try to reset the connection. You should be ready to use YouTube and any other blocked content in China by doing these steps.

Conclusion

The real struggle for many people, I believe, is finding a VPN service that truly works in China. Our recommendation can guarantee that and more; they are effective, secure, and maintain high privacy.