Guangzhou - Post Report Question and Answers
What do you wish you had known about this particular city/country before moving there?
Phones and VPNS need to be considered prior to arrival: VPNs: Astrill VPN | Mullvad VPN | Express VPN | Proton VPN Due to the Great Firewall of China (GFoC) We have installed multiple VPN apps on all of our devices (tablets, PCs and phones) which we use to access whatever streaming service that we want. I did this instead of setting up a dedicated VPN router. VPN Routers (RTR): The gold standard here for VPN Routers in China is Astrill, no other VPN Router works as well with Chinese internet that I know of. I have mine installed on an ASUS RTR running MerlinWRT with the Astrill applet installed. You can set up various VPN Routers to use which will auto connect to whatever end point VPN services it is configured for, but various staff here have had different levels of success with this option when using services other than Astrill. If a VPN router is NOT set up BEFORE you come to China than it will be even more difficult to do here. So, if you decide to use this option then please set the VPN router up before you come, if possible, if this is how you want to run your family’s VPN services. Also, during high profile periods for the local government almost all VPNs will experience stoppages as they ramp up internet restrictions, it will eventually return to normal, but it happens consistently within these periods so fair warning. Astrill: It is expensive but works most days, you may need to connect to different end points (Hong Kong, Australia, LA, Seattle, etc.) but eventually you will find an exit node that works and allow you to stream whatever service you would like. Astrill is around $200 USD for two years currently. Mullvad: It is very consistent, but the connection speed is much slower than other options such as Proton VPN or Astrill VPN in my experience. It costs around $60 USD per year, around $6 a month I believe. Express VPN: Like Mullvad, Express works but is kind of inconsistent with its connections. I believe it is around $80USD per year. Proton VPN: Proton is very popular, so it has many possible end points to connect to and is one of the main VPN’s I use for streaming. It costs around $110 for 2 years. I know every family is different and has different needs, so good luck figuring out what works for yours. I highly recommend getting at least one of these VPNs if you have not already as once you have one that can connect to the internet outside of China you can download more if needed. Of note Surf Shark, Nord, and PIA VPNs do not work at all, or if they do will disconnect very quickly and I do not recommend using them here. - Mar 2026
Housing is very small and tight. There isn't much storage, so leave tons of stuff at home. You'll also be buying a TON of stuff as it's made here, so make sure you have room! - Apr 2023
Really, the only thing that makes this place difficult is our inability to leave or travel because of COVID and centralized hotel quarantine upon arrival in China. It's a big deterrent for many people taking their R&Rs, etc. - Aug 2021
I wish I had better language skills; the better it is, the easier it is to integrate. - May 2019
People say the air in Guangzhou is fine, but that's only in comparison to some other cities. It's better than some large Chinese cities, but still seems poor. In my opinion, the dangers of bad air in many areas does not seem to be discussed as much as it should be, as I'm thinking that would then affect staffing. - Nov 2018
It's pretty much what I expected - Nov 2015
China is a full-on experience. There are so many people almost everywhere you go, and with such a different language and culture, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. I became a more aggressive person when I was there, mostly because you have to be, or you'll end up constantly being shoved out of the way, cut in front of in lines, et cetera. I didn't anticipate that, though, and it was a bit of a shock when I realized that it had happened. Likewise, I wish I had known just how much of an impact the pollution would have on my day to day life. I thought I understood how bad it was, but even if you're intellectually aware of it, it's hard to fully grasp what the practical implications are until you're living there. - Aug 2014
