I am flying to China next weekend for a week long business trip. I have researched a bit, and saw there are a few options to to surf the internet unrestricted.

I have Verizon and TravelPass but as I understand it, the Verizon network is CDMA not GSM so it is spotty.

I saw Holafly and Airalo or two good options for eSims that typically bypass the GFW.

I looked into VPN and I really have no idea which one would work best for iOS. I hear Nord and Express really don't work.

Any advice would be appreciated.

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Posted by LemmyLives

Texas

Member since Mar 2019

13273 posts

Posted on 5/30/25 at 8:33 am to TheDeathValley

Buy a throw away used phone, and put the absolute minimum of data on it. My old Big 4 firm would give us a wiped laptop and phone to use, which were scrubbed immediately upon our return.

I've been using VPN Unlimited across the world for years, but never went to CN with it.

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Posted by RolltidePA

North Carolina

Member since Dec 2010

5080 posts

Posted on 5/30/25 at 11:34 am to TheDeathValley

Can't speak for China, but was in Japan for two weeks and used Airalo. Service was pretty flawless.

I have Nord on my iPhone and it works fine. Again, I can't speak for service in China.

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Posted by LSUOFFSHORE

Madisonville,LA

Member since Nov 2007

564 posts

Posted on 5/31/25 at 6:12 am to TheDeathValley

The issue with the VPN was WiFi. All of the WiFi we connected to did not allow a vpn. We used one consistently while on cell data. Most everything non china was slow. And obviously any of the alphabet software is basically bricked. I went in expecting to have the gov see everything.

Download and set up Alipay and Didi and you should be good to go. I them up to a USA CC them at did not have international fees. Both are very convenient systems.

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