The Google Hangout feature, which allows you to video chat with multiple people at once, is an excellent way to stay up to date with family and friend groups. However, Google and its affiliate programs are blocked in China. This means that in order to use Google Hangouts you will need to use a VPN connection.
Wechat and Weibo are the social media giants most used in China. Each has more than a half-billion active users.
1. Sina Weibo. Weibo is among the most popular Chinese social media apps, with more than 573 million monthly active users.
Well, the Chinese government has blocked WhatsApp since 2017. This means you can't send texts, share images and make voice or video calls using the app in China. However, there's good news. With a VPN, you can get around a geoblock and access WhatsApp.
Yes. WhatsApp is blocked in China and has been censored since June 2017. The app joins a host of other social media platforms that have been blocked in China.
Chinese Social Media FAQs
Instead, the social media sites Chinese use are WeChat, Sina Weibo, Tencent QQ, Tencent Video, Xiao HongShu, Douban, Zhihu, Meituan, Toutiao, and DouYin (TikTok). What is the most popular social media in China? WeChat is the most popular social media in China.
FaceTime links aren't supported in China mainland.
Gmail, as well as all other Google services, is blocked in China. Therefore, in order to be able to access your Gmail account from China, you will have to download and install a VPN.
Both Facebook and Messenger are blocked in China, but you can easily access them by using a VPN that works in China. Does China have Facebook? No, Facebook is blocked in China, even though you can still access it without problems if you have software to get around the Great Firewall of China, such as a VPN.
Yes you can send SMS to China. China has had a telephone network for a few years already. They aren't shy to use SMS, although WeChat messaging is probably more popular. On the other hand, all Google services are blocked in China, so don't use their messaging / chat services to talk to your friends in China.
Momo is, by far, the most popular Chinese dating app and by the number of users this mobile app is only second to WeChat. In the last couple of years Momo has been trying hard to improve its past seedy reputation re-positioning itself more of an interest based social app rather than purely a hook up service.
The majority of Western social media platforms are blocked in China, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, TikTok and many others. In China, there are multiple local social media platforms. The most popular one are WeChat and XiaoHongShu.
If you want to send a gift that you have, you can send it via the post or via a private courier company (we recommend Eurosender for its great fees). Alternatively, you can buy a gift online and have it delivered to your recipient in China. A third option is to send your recipient money as a wire transfer.
Baidu is China's largest and most widely used search engine, much like Google in the U.S.
The Great Firewall prevents users from accessing foreign news sites such as the BBC, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, among others. 8 Foreign web services that are blocked include Facebook, Google, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Yahoo, Slack, and YouTube.
2010–2016: Giving up search service
In January 2010, Google announced that, in response to a Chinese-originated hacking attack on them and other US tech companies, they were no longer willing to censor searches in China and would pull out of the country completely if necessary.
Can I Watch Netflix in China? Yes, you can. However, you'll need to use a VPN. While there isn't a version of Netflix that's available to residents of China, you can use a VPN to access Netflix content from other countries.
WhatsApp is blocked in China because the Chinese government can't moderate or censor messages that are sent on the app. Travelers to China can work around this by switching to government-approved WhatsApp alternatives and using a VPN.
China. YouTube was first blocked in China for over five months from October 16, 2007 to March 22, 2008. It was blocked again from March 24, 2009, although a Foreign Ministry spokesperson would neither confirm nor deny whether YouTube had been blocked. Since then, YouTube has been inaccessible from mainland China.