WhatsApp is, without a doubt, the most famous and widely-used instant message app among the vast Smartphone market. This service’s popularity goes well beyond a country or region: everybody knows about WhatsApp or has it on their devices.
After all, it is the most straightforward way to stay connected and in communication with family and friends, wherever you are. WhatsApp has a user-friendly interface and presentation that makes it light and always ready to use. It has no lag, it doesn’t slow down your Internet connection, it delivers the message opportunistically and quickly, and it doesn’t have ads, among other crucial benefits.
Having no ads to slow down your whole messaging process is a plus that millions of users have learned to appreciate. The world is full of instant messaging applications that implement annoying advertising messages that can also to bring lag into your life, get you in contact with viruses, worms, ransomware, and other malware.
WhatsApp: the perfect communication experience
With WhatsApp, you can send voice notes, pictures, videos, text messages, emojis, locations, and other useful stuff all in one app. The obsolete Short Message Service (SMS) had its run as the top instant communication method for a while, but that was way before WhatsApp made its appearance into our lives.
SMS are inefficient and expensive, especially in a country like China. Instead, you can get an Internet connection via a public Wi-Fi or pay a data service to enjoy the many advantages of using WhatsApp as your primary mean of communication.
The Great Firewall strikes again
However, and if we are going to talk about China, the country recently banned WhatsApp as part of its Great Firewall policy. It is safe to say, then, that the Great Firewall of China, a feared system for internet censorship that the government has been applying for years, has gotten even more significant if that was at all possible.
The Great Firewall of China is responsible for blocking numerous internet sites and services in the country, in an attempt to control what Chinese people see and enjoy online. They see the measure as a way to protect the interests of the nation and to limit the people’s contact with the international media.
As a result of the Great Firewall of China’s implementation, people in the nation have little to no access to information from abroad, including restricted access to internet giants such as Facebook, Twitter, and the Google search engine, and apps are also banned for downloading in mobile devices.
Even Weibo, a microblogging company developed and produced to be a Chinese version of Twitter, is a victim of the Great Firewall of China: people in the country can’t access and use the service anymore, among many others.
While the Chinese authorities may have unconventional positions about what freedom of speech and the right for information both mean, that is the way they manage internal and external communications, and it should be respected. However, the main problem with the use of WhatsApp and all services blocked by the Great Firewall of China is that it affects people from abroad that visit the country, for vacation, getting in touch with all relatives or for work reasons.
Imagine you work for a prestigious tech company in the United States of America, and the brand wants to adventure in the Chinese market. Not many enterprises are allowed to try this, so it is safe to say it would be a bold move. You are tasked with leading the project, and you have to travel to China and stay there for the next year.
If WhatsApp, Gmail, Facebook, and Twitter are all blocked, you will have a hard time getting in touch with family, friends, and acquaintances from back home. Under those circumstances, the oppressive internet censorship governing China will take a massive toll on you.
VPN can save your (social) life
But how could you unblock WhatsApp in China, with the intention of going back to visibility as far as your family and friends go? Well, the Internet provides a few solutions, but the most efficient one is hiring a VPN service provider and install it on your phone.
What is a VPN? Virtual Private Networks are online measures for data and traffic encryption: they hide the users’ IP address and give them a new, temporary one to use at their convenience. It is a fantastic solution for China.
However, the most attractive trait of VPNs is their ability to unblock restricted international content and services. Because they hide your IP address and lend you a new one, you can choose to access a server in practically any location you want.
If what you desire is to unblock the use of WhatsApp in China, all you need to do is get a reliable VPN client. You have to connect to a server of a country that allows the use of WhatsApp (virtually anyone, really), and you will be able to use WhatsApp while being in mainland China.
You need to keep something in mind, though: the Communist Party of China (CPC) wants to block VPN use in the nation by February 2018. As things stand right now, they allow the use of VPN, but clearly don’t like it, so you are better off if the government doesn’t know you are implementing this system.
How to unblock WhatsApp in China
- Carefully choose a VPN provider that matches your requirements and budget. We really only recommend using a VPN that supports Stealth VPN and Chinese support. Check out TorGuard VPN.
- Register for the service on its official site. You need to introduce your personal information and payment method.
- Download your VPN client from the website or the app store of your device.
- Install your app on your smartphone or tablet.
- Run the VPN on your device.
- Establish a connection to a server from outside China, preferably one in the United States.
- Done! Now you can unblock WhatsApp in China and use it freely.
Best VPN for unblocking WhatsApp in China
Since Chinese government doesn’t like people using websites, it is clear they hate seeing their citizens use tools to unblock all international pages, like VPN, and if you get caught using one, odds are they will stand in the way. It is the reason why you need to be discrete and anonymous while using one in China.
In conclusion, WhatsApp, the world’s leading app or service for instant messaging, is now off-limits for people living in mainland China. It suffered the same fate as Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Weibo, Gmail, and other Google services as a result of the Great Firewall of China.
The government’s internet censorship policy is taking down everyone and everything that it considers as a threat to national security. Now expats living in China have a hard time talking and communicating with family and friends, essential services that WhatsApp provides. Thanks to the ability to make audio or video calls, using WhatsApp was something near a real-time experience, but now, it is tough to even to exchange a short text message with your mother or children if you live in China.
