Does NordVPN work in China?

As of Aug 11, 2026, NordVPN is partially working in China.

Status: degraded
Confidence: medium
Last verified: Aug 11, 2026
Method: All native apps blocked per vendor. Windows: vendor now says manual server configurations are also blocked ('recently'), leaving no documented Windows workaround. Android and iOS keep a vendor-documented manual IKEv2/IPsec path via strongSwan (import certificate, MTU 1280, block IPv6, service credentials from the Nord Account dashboard). Obfuscated servers connect intermittently; expect server rotation.

Verified working in China right now

Astrill (low confidence, StealthVPN (TCP mode) required; install and sign up before arrival (website confirmed blocked in-country, OONI, daily through 2026-08-10); occasional server switching expected.)

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Set on NordVPN? It is partially working in China right now. Check the method notes above before you buy. Get NordVPN

What we're seeing

NordVPN's own support pages, checked August 11, 2026, say its apps cannot connect from China and now add that manual server configurations were recently blocked on Windows as well, which closes the workaround our July note relied on. The manual IKEv2/IPsec route is still documented for Android and iOS. OONI shows nordvpn.com at roughly 54 percent anomalies across 125 Chinese measurements in July and early August, steady website interference rather than a new escalation. No fresh in-country user report surfaced in either direction; Reddit was unreachable this pass.

Sources for the above:

user_report (Aug 11, 2026): OONI community measurements, China, 2026-07-01 to 2026-08-10: 125 measurements, 36 OK / 67 anomaly (53.6%) / 5 failure, no confirmed. Roughly steady across the window (no clean escalation signal). Caveats: this is the marketing site, not the tunnel; I did not decompose per-ASN, so treat the aggregate as "persistent partial interference", not a time series. api.nordvpn.com (control plane) had only 1 CN measurement in the window (OK), too thin to lean on. 5.
vendor (Aug 11, 2026): Fetched in full. "Our server configurations for manual connections and applications have recently been blocked on Windows." No workaround given; suggests using another device. This is worse than our on-file method note (which had manual IKEv2 working generally). 2.
vendor (Aug 11, 2026): Fetched in full. "The NordVPN Android application is fully blocked in China." Workaround: manual IKEv2/IPsec via strongSwan client (cert import, MTU 1280, block IPv6). iOS article in the same section states the iOS app is fully blocked with a similar manual workaround (seen in search snippet, not fetched in full). 3.
news (Aug 11, 2026): 2026 traveler guide observed via search snippet: lists NordVPN as "unreliable" currently, recommends Astrill/LetsVPN/12VPX instead. Low weight (commercial guide), but directionally consistent with degraded and against a flip to working.
vendor (Aug 11, 2026): Fetched in full. Hub article: "You can't connect to NordVPN while being in China", app stuck on Connecting; defers to per-platform articles. The existence of a maintained dedicated China-can't-connect section is itself the vendor conceding degraded service. 4.

Latest reports for NordVPN here:

Not working · 6d ago

Common questions

Is using a VPN legal in China?

Only government-licensed VPNs are legal. The 2017 rules ban unlicensed services, and authorities have penalized individual users. Enforcement against visitors is rare but not zero. We report availability, not legal advice.

Do VPNs still work in China after the 2026 firewall upgrade?

Mostly no. As of July 2026, Astrill with StealthVPN is the only VPN we verified working. NordVPN and Proton connect intermittently with obfuscation. Most others are blocked or unreliable.

Can I download a VPN from inside China?

Usually not. Vendor websites are blocked in-country and Western app stores are unreachable without a VPN. Install and sign up before you arrive, and carry a backup.