Which sites and apps need a VPN in China: the 2026 list

In short: anything whose account lives with Google, Meta, OpenAI or Anthropic needs an overseas route from China; Chinese services and most static websites do not. Here is the everyday breakdown so you know what to prepare before you arrive.

Needs Stellar

| Category | Services | | --- | --- | | Search and mail | Google Search, Gmail, Google Drive / Docs / Photos, Google Maps, Google Scholar | | Video and music | YouTube, Netflix, Disney+, Spotify, Twitch | | Social | Instagram, Facebook, Threads, X, Reddit, Discord, Telegram, WhatsApp, Signal | | AI tools | ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Midjourney, Claude Code, Codex CLI | | Work | Slack, Notion, Figma, Dropbox, some Zoom setups | | Development | GitHub (intermittent), official npm / PyPI registries, Docker Hub, Hugging Face | | Academic | most overseas journal databases, arXiv is sometimes slow, university VPN portals | | News | most international media |

Works directly

• WeChat, Alipay, Taobao, JD, Meituan, Didi, 12306, Chinese banking apps
• Chinese video and music: Bilibili, iQIYI, NetEase Music, QQ Music
• China sites of most global brands (Apple, Microsoft China)
• iCloud China, the Chinese App Store

In between

• Apple: an overseas Apple ID's App Store usually opens but downloads slowly; iMessage and FaceTime work.
• Microsoft: Outlook.com, OneDrive and Teams are inconsistent; stable with Stellar.
• Steam: the store is slow, downloads via CDN are usually fine.
• Zoom / Google Meet: international Zoom calls may need the route, Google Meet does.

The easy way

Keep Stellar in smart mode: the first table goes through the overseas route automatically, the second stays direct, no switching. If a site complains about your region, switch to global mode for a moment. See modes.

Install and log in before you fly; after landing just open the app. Full checklist in returning to China.

Download Stellar, one account for every platform.