Discord in China: How to Unblock It in 2026

China blocked Discord on July 13, 2018, and the block is still in place. On a Chinese connection, the app opens to your old messages and then stalls: servers don’t refresh, DMs don’t send, and voice channels never connect. The website doesn’t load either, so there’s no browser fallback.

A VPN solves this by sending your connection through a server outside China, so Discord sees an ordinary visitor from abroad. The difficulty is that China’s Great Firewall also detects and blocks most VPNs, and VPN websites are blocked there too.

So the setup has to happen before the trip, with a VPN that can disguise its traffic. Hong Kong and Macau are a separate story, and Discord works there normally. Setting it up takes about ten minutes, often less. Here’s how to do it.

Is Discord Banned in China?

Yes. Discord has been blocked in mainland China since July 2018, when it disappeared behind the Great Firewall, the system China uses to filter foreign websites and apps. No official order or reason was ever published.

The block covers the website, the desktop and mobile apps, and voice and video calls, and it applies to every Chinese network, including hotel Wi-Fi and local SIM cards. The logic matches the rest of China’s blocked apps.

Discord hosts private, encrypted communities that Chinese authorities can’t moderate, and WhatsApp is blocked in China for the same reason. Instead, the government steers people toward domestic apps that follow its rules and hand over data on request.

Still, the ban stops at the mainland border. Discord works normally in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, so travelers there don’t require a VPN for it. China isn’t alone, either: Russia blocks Discord, and Discord is also blocked in Turkey.

How to Unblock Discord in China: Detailed Tutorial

Start before you fly. VPN websites don’t load in China, and Chinese app stores don’t list VPN apps, so subscribing after you arrive rarely works out. We recommend NordVPN for China, so I used it for this guide.

Subscribe, then install the app on your phone and laptop and sign in while you still have open internet. A VPN connects in China only with obfuscation, which disguises VPN traffic as ordinary encrypted web browsing, so the Great Firewall has nothing obvious to block.

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In NordVPN’s app, open the server list, select Obfuscated, and choose a country where Discord works. Nearby locations such as Hong Kong, Japan, or Taiwan keep the ping on voice calls low. Then open Discord as usual.

I connected to an obfuscated Hong Kong server, and Discord behaved as it does without a VPN: my servers and old chats appeared, and voice and video calls were smooth.

If the app still hangs on the connecting screen, close it fully and reopen it.

Using Discord in China Without a VPN

A travel eSIM is the main alternative. Roaming data usually travels back through a carrier outside mainland China, so Discord often connects on mobile data with no VPN. The limits are practical ones. It covers mobile data only, so hotel Wi-Fi puts you back behind the Great Firewall, and video calls use up a data plan quickly.

Results also differ from carrier to carrier, so an eSIM works best as a backup next to a VPN. Local apps are the other option. Gamers in China use KOOK (formerly Kaiheila), which copies Discord’s server-and-channel layout, along with QQ and WeChat groups.

These work without a VPN, but full access usually requires a Chinese phone number, and none of them can connect you to your own Discord servers or friends.

Discord Still Not Working? Try These Fixes

China tightens its blocking from time to time, especially around sensitive political dates, so a setup that worked yesterday can fail today. These fixes usually help:

• Switch obfuscated servers. Another Hong Kong or Japanese server often connects when the first one doesn’t.
• Change the protocol. On ExpressVPN, choose Automatic. On Proton VPN, alternate between Stealth and Smart.
• Enable alternative routing in Proton VPN. It connects to Proton’s servers through third-party networks when the direct connection is blocked.
• Restart Discord after connecting. A full restart clears the stuck connection the app sometimes keeps.
• Keep a second VPN installed. It’s a fallback if the first one stops connecting during your stay.
• Contact the VPN’s support team. NordVPN and ExpressVPN can send mirror links and server suggestions by email.

Which VPNs Can Unblock Discord in China?

Few VPNs connect reliably in China, and the ones that do share one tool: obfuscation that hides VPN traffic from the Great Firewall. These three have it, along with servers in Hong Kong, Japan, and Taiwan for low-delay calls.

1. NordVPN: Obfuscated Servers Near China

NordVPN keeps a separate list of obfuscated servers, with locations in Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore, all close enough to mainland China for smooth voice chat. On its obfuscated Hong Kong server, it had a 39% speed loss, which still leaves far more than a Discord video call requires.

Beyond Discord, NordVPN’s next-gen antivirus blocks malware and malicious links, which helps when strangers post downloads in public servers. Meshnet links your devices over encrypted connections, so on a trip you can send files from your phone to your laptop or browse through your home computer to unblock sites that work only from home.

On Android, a three-day NordVPN trial lets you test the whole setup before paying, and the two-year Basic plan costs about $3.50 a month after that.

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2. Proton VPN: Stealth Protocol on Every Plan

Proton VPN handles censorship with Stealth, a protocol that wraps VPN traffic in what looks like a regular HTTPS connection. Unusually, Stealth is available on every plan, including the free one, which makes Proton VPN a reasonable no-cost backup.

Proton’s own China guide admits no VPN can guarantee a connection there, and it pairs Stealth with alternative routing, which connects through third-party networks when Proton’s servers are blocked. In practice, Stealth costs speed over long distances.

On a Hong Kong server, it had a 68% speed loss, enough for chat and voice, and video calls may switch to a lower quality. On the paid VPN Plus plan, Secure Core sends traffic through hardened servers in privacy-friendly countries before it leaves for its destination, an extra layer for users who discuss sensitive topics on Discord.

Proton VPN is based in Switzerland, its no-logs policy has been independently audited, and the two-year VPN Plus plan costs under $3 a month.

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3. ExpressVPN: Automatic Obfuscation on Every Server

ExpressVPN obfuscates every server and protocol automatically, so there’s no special category to find. Set the protocol to Automatic, and the app chooses whichever connection works. With obfuscation on its Hong Kong server, ExpressVPN had a 30% speed loss, the smallest of the three, so video calls and screen sharing have the most room.

The apps are simple enough for first-time VPN users, and the Android version made our list of the best VPNs for Android, the device most people use for Discord on a trip. If ExpressVPN’s website won’t load in China, its support team can email mirror links for downloading the app.

The two-year Basic plan costs about $3 a month and covers ten devices.

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Final Thoughts

Discord still doesn’t connect on Chinese networks. To fix it, set up a VPN with obfuscation at home, sign in on every device, and connect to a nearby obfuscated server in Hong Kong, Japan, or Taiwan once you arrive.

From then on, Discord behaves as it does anywhere else, with your servers, DMs, and calls intact. Getting online in China rewards a bit of preparation, and NordVPN is the VPN we’d set up first, thanks to its obfuscated servers near the mainland.

And honestly, the most useful tip is a dull one: update the VPN app and Discord right before you leave, because updates are hard to download behind the Great Firewall. An outdated VPN app is less likely to work.

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