Many of us utilise Gmail in our daily lives either for business or leisure. We are so accustomed to the convenience and stability of Gmail that we hardly give it a second thought when we’re reading and replying our emails.
What’s not to like about Gmail? All you need is a browser and you’ll be able to access it on your desktop, tablets and even mobile phones and it’s super convenient unless you happen to travel to China, that is.
Many people have been caught unawares that Google and their services (Facebook too) cannot be accessed while in China. Some have placed the blame on their Great Firewall but apparently there are other reasons at play here. The Chinese government does not support foreign based tech service providers to operate freely, with everything being monitored by the Golden Shield project.
They demanded Google to host all their Chinese user’s data in China and also grant them access to the source servers. Obviously Google will never agree to such terms, so they were requested to leave China and had all their services banned, including Gmail.
Even the US State Department could not get China to reconsider their policy. They are not known as the world’s most powerful censorship regime in the world without reason. Ironically, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said this,
“China has consistently had a welcoming and supportive attitude toward foreign investors doing legitimate business here,” she said. “We will, as always, provide an open, transparent and good environment for foreign companies in China.”
Go figure.
Anyways, if you are going to be in China and need access to Gmail, there is a way to circumvent this problem. That’s the beauty of the Internet, nothing can be blocked forever, someone will figure out a way. The solution is to use a Virtual Private Network or VPN for short. A VPN service allows you to bypass the Great Firewall and evade the Chinese Internet Police by using what is known as a secure and encrypted tunnel.
Once you enter the VPN, you IP address is secured by the VPN server and it can hide or ‘mask’ your original IP address by replacing it with one of their own IP addresses. As an example, if you connect to an Australian VPN, your IP will show you coming from Australia.
How to Setup Unblock/Access Gmail for China
First of all, you need to subscribe to a VPN service before you can start to use it. Here’s a list of providers in the US with the most servers:
Just follow these step to setup your VPN on your Windows PC. If you don’t have a prior subscription, these steps will not work.
- Go to system tray and right click to see Open Network and Sharing Center.
- Click on Setup a new connection or Network from the left hand menu and choose Connect to workspace.
- Choose use My Internet Connection (VPN) and then mention server address (request provider for server address), type the name of VPN connection.
- Mark on Allow other people to use this connection, set it up now so I can connect later option too.
- Click Next and enter your username along with password and click Create. If the Connection is ready to use, a confirmation message will appear on your screen.
- Scroll Network and Sharing Centre Window and click Change Adapter Settings.
- Right click on VPN connection just created and click on it properties.
- Go towards security tab and choose PPTP (Point to Point Tunneling Protocol)
- Networking tab should be scrolled and then uncheck TCP/IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6) including File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Network, click OK now.
- Go to Network Connection Window, right click on connection and click the connect button.
- Verification and authentication message will be displayed now before connection is created.
- After connecting, you will be able to see an icon connected to system tray.
How to Access Gmail when in China
After you have done the necessary setup and subscribed to a VPN service, you can access your Gmail easily while you are in China. Be sure you have installed your VPN app beforehand.
Step 1
Activate your VPN app and connect it to any server around the world; USA, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, etc.
Step 2
Fire up your web browser and make sure you have cleared your cache and history or use the incognito mode. You will now have access to your Gmail without worrying about the Great Firewall.
Better Safe than Sorry
While a VPN can circumvent the Great Firewall and the Internet Police, you must be fully aware of the fact that what you are doing is considered illegal in China and only you can decide whether you want to take the risk. While no one has been persecuted for this, you do not want to be the first one.
- You must always take these precautions:
- Always choose a VPN provider that offers Internet Kill Switch & Auto Reconnect features
- Always keep your VPN active when accessing foreign email, communication and social services in China
Always choose a VPN provider based outside of China. The Chinese government keeps logs of all VPN services operating in Mainland China. - Log out of social media apps & accounts, email accounts and websites that you have unblocked using VPN.
- Remember to clear your PC & smartphone caches after using the service.
- And please don’t use VPN to access blocked sites in a public place!
We trust you will use your discretion to access your Gmail and other sites while travelling in China and if we have missed out any steps or if you know of other methods, do let us know.