VPN Not Working in China? Why, and What to Try

• The protocol is recognised: networks in mainland China identify and disrupt some VPN protocols. That is different from one website being blocked. The connection itself is interrupted, so the app sits on “connecting” or drops a few seconds after it connects.
• The server address is interfered with: the protocol is fine, but the address you connect to is unreachable for now. Another region usually connects.
• The app cannot reach its own service: some apps must contact their own website to log in or fetch a server list. When that website does not open from China, the app stalls at login.
• DNS: without a route, lookups for some domains return a wrong address, so the site fails to open or something else opens instead. The mechanism is explained in DNS leak vs DNS poisoning.
• Sensitive periods: controls get stricter around certain dates, and a method that normally works can become unstable for a few days. A second connection method helps most at those times.
• Evening peak: international links are busiest from 8 to 11 pm. The VPN connects but is slow, and blocking has nothing to do with it.

1. Change network. Move from Wi‑Fi to mobile data or the reverse; if hotel Wi‑Fi fails, join the phone’s hotspot. Interference differs between networks and carriers, so this step shows fastest which side the problem is on.
2. Change connection method. One LeoTun account has six methods, and interference with one protocol is independent of the others. Hiddify, the private network and OpenVPN use UDP; when they fail, switch to Cisco, which runs over TLS and looks like a visit to an ordinary HTTPS site. If whole-device methods keep dropping, switch to the web proxy. Which connection method fits which scenario matches methods to networks.
3. Change region. If another region connects, only that region’s entry was unreachable. On smaller carriers, or when cross-border links are unstable, choose the China entry region: the client connects only to an address inside China and we handle the cross-border leg. The by-carrier starting points are in Which region is fastest from inside China.
4. Check DNS and IPv6. When the client says connected but pages fail, or only some apps fail, look for a manually set DNS server, Android’s Private DNS or the browser’s secure DNS, and turn it off for one test. If the local network hands out IPv6 addresses, turn IPv6 off once to compare. On our routes DNS is assigned by the route and resolved inside the tunnel, so normally no DNS setting needs changing.
5. Check the device clock and the account. Encrypted connections need the time to be right within a few minutes, so set phones and laptops to automatic time after crossing time zones. Then log in to the site and check the expiry date. The full checklist is in Cannot connect, slow, or dropping.

• Measure the local speed without the route first. If that is slow, no route will be fast.
• Choose the region by carrier: on China Unicom in the north try Japan and Korea first, on China Telecom in the south try Southeast Asia or Australia, and on China Mobile and other broadband try the China entry.
• Between 8 and 11 pm: read the red, yellow and green load lights on the region list and move to a green region. That helps more than reconnecting.
• A lossy network such as mobile data or older broadband: switch to Hiddify, whose protocol is built to tolerate packet loss.
• A network that restricts UDP, such as a hotel, campus or office: switch to Cisco.
• How to run a fair speed test and read each segment is covered in VPN slow? How to run a speed test and find the cause.

Hotel, serviced-apartment and café networks carry limits of their own, and many “the VPN is broken” reports start there. One test settles it: put the same device on the phone’s hotspot and connect again. If it works there, the hotel network is the cause.

• Chinese sites are slow too, with the route off: the hotel’s bandwidth is shared out among the guests, most visibly in the evening. Use mobile data, or avoid the peak.
• It drops every few hours: the hotel’s login session expired. Log in again in the browser, then reconnect.
• It is slow or drops from the moment it connects: the hotel network restricts UDP. Switch to Cisco.
• Nothing stays up: use the web proxy. It works request by request with no long-lived connection, so by design there is no connection to drop, and it is dedicated to the browser.

• Phone battery saver: Android’s background limits shut the client down, which shows up as a drop shortly after the screen locks. Whitelist the client and turn battery optimisation off for it.
• Moving between Wi‑Fi and mobile data: the connection is always rebuilt, and that is normal. The private network recovers on its own; other methods need one reconnect.
• Run one whole-device method at a time on a device. Two of them compete for the network settings.

The connection method, the region, the error text or a screenshot, and the time it happened. With those four, most problems are located on the first reply. An AI assistant answers in the support groups around the clock. From inside China with no route, the QQ group opens directly, and email works too. Every entry point is on the Contact page, and the fallbacks for when the site does not open are in How to reach us and never lose contact.