Great Firewall of China Test
The golden rule is to host your site inside the Great Firewall of China. So every time a visitor in China visits your site, they will be at the best possible speed. To achieve that, the Chinese government has outlined 5 obligations that companies must follow when hosting their websites go live. The legal permit you need to host your site in China is to have an ICP license. If all that sounds daunting, reach out to us; we’ll give you a free consolation call to help you get your site working in China with full compliance.
China Firewall Test
Test if the Great Firewall of China blocks your site in real-time.
Enter the URL you want to test
Test My Site
The test will typically take longer due to slow access from mainland China to your URL.
How does our GFW Block Test work?
We have servers inside the Great Firewall of China; when you put a URL in the above input box, servers will request access to the URL and the china compliance status of the site.
To test websites from China or see if the websites comply with the China content law and regulations, you need to enter the URL in the above input box.
If your site is accessible and Compliant with China Law, you will see green checkmarks ✅ in our report.
If you see a❗️, your site is accessible by our servers but is at risk of being blocked as it is not compliant with Chinese laws.
On the other hand, If you see some ❌, your site is likely blocked (not accessible inside the Firewall) and not operating in compliance with Chinese Laws.
Examples
Some popular websites, platforms, and apps used in the west have been blocked, such as:
- TikTok (the local Chinese version, Douyin is not blocked in China)
- Binance
- Youtube
- Wikipedia
- Github
- OpenAI’s ChatGPT
- Gumroad
- Vimeo
- Discord
- jsDelivr (Blocked right after they lost their ICP Filing. The founder share more thoughts on this github issue)
- Heroku
- CNN
- Firebase
- Bitcoin
- Ethereum
- Roblox
- Shopify
- store.steampowered.com
- Apple
- Tesla
- Microsoft
- Douyin (TikTok for China, owned by the same company ByteDance)
- Nike
- Mercedes-Benz
Why are some sites blocked in China?
There is a long history. The Golden Shield Project (or in Chinese 金盾工程) was initiated in 1998 and began operations in November 2003. They build the “Great Firewall of China” (GFW), which is a censorship and surveillance project that blocks data from foreign countries that may be unlawful in the PRC (People’s Republic of China).
Is my site blocked in China?
To answer your question, “is my site blocked in china”. The best way to verify this is by running a Real-time GreatFirewall test, where you can test websites from China or test websites in China by having servers visit your site inside the China Firewall and send requests to your servers to see if it’s reachable or accessible.
To see how it works or run a free test of your site, click to enter your site URL to test now. Here is an example of GFT block test for facebook.com:
What is Great Firewall of China?
The Great Firewall of China is a colloquial term used to describe the sophisticated system of internet censorship and surveillance operated by the Chinese government to regulate access to online information within China.
It is a combination of technological measures, laws, and regulations that enable the Chinese government to block access to certain foreign websites, filter content, monitor online activities, and even arrest individuals who violate its strict online censorship laws.
The Great Firewall of China is considered one of the most extensive and sophisticated censorship systems in the world, and it is designed to restrict access to information.
The golden rule to make your site works inside China’s Firewall is to follow the content laws and regulations in China. We help companies in the west to achieve that with ease. If you need our help, feel free to reach out.
How to make your site work in China?
The golden rule is to host your site inside the Great Firewall of China. So every time a visitor in China visits your site, they will be at the best possible speed. To achieve that, the Chinese government has outlined 5 obligations that companies must follow when hosting their websites go live. The legal permit you need to host your site in China is to have an ICP license. If all that sounds daunting, reach out to us; we’ll give you a free consolation call to help you get your site working in China with full compliance.
Ready to make your site work in China?
Our staff will assist your journey in China.
How to unblock blocked sites in China?
The Great Firewall of China has its rules (dynamically updated regularly) to monitor keywords or phrases in webpages and domain names. So they decide if the site is blocked, and once it’s blocked, it’s rare to get it unblocked. Suppose you are looking for solutions that get your domain (websites) unblocked in China. The golden rule is to get a new domain in China (the .CN domain) and stay compliant with Chinese laws.
Some firewall checkers show my site works ok in China, but why is your checker showing blocked here?
China is big. With over 1 billion netizens in China. Most checkers can’t give you the full availability check in China with a grantee.
We set up servers in major areas in China to provide you with the best possible coverage. The golden rule for your site to have long-term stability in China is to check if the site is fully compliant with China laws.
Most sites we saw that turn from available in China to blocked in China are not following the regulation in China. For example, the “❗️ At risk of being blocked” examples in the above table are likely to perform unstably (meaning you have no problem visiting the site now but fail to open the site tomorrow or anytime soon) in China.
Great Firewall of China Test
Many websites in the world are blocked by the Great Firewall of China, and some of them are even blocked by accident. Enter the URL and check whether your website can actually work in China.
This URL is blocked in China
China habitually blocks websites that are hosted outside its mainland. It prevents external organizations from serving content that the administration feels inappropriate as per the local regulations, or If you’re using a hosting provider outside China, chances are, the IP address will have a high probability of getting blocked. Most organizations outside China use shared hosting. If China blocks any website’s IP address under the shared service, all the other platforms on the DNS or IP would be affected.
Are you wondering how to reach the audience in China? We are here to help.
Please try again later
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Meanwhile, check out our recent article: The complete guide to the Great Firewall of China (GFoC) or contact us directly, and we will respond to you shortly.
Check Denied
You have exceeded the maximum number of queries per day.
Contact us to talk about your needs so that we can find a solution for you.
This URL appears to be blocked in China
China is a large country. Three telecom services and ISPs operate broadly in different parts of the country. They hold a monopoly in the specified markets. Users in China often experience bottlenecks while connecting to sites hosted in foreign countries, connectivity and connection speed also depend on the location.
if you wonder how to reach the audience in China or test your website in different parts of the country. We are here to help.
This URL appears to be accessible from China
The Great Firewall of China, limited bandwidth, and protectionist internet policies make online website delivery challenging in Mainland China. Our research shows that websites take 3x longer to load in China than in Europe or America.
Have you tested your website across China with real people on real devices? China is a large country. Three telecom services and ISPs operate broadly in different parts of the country. They hold a monopoly in the specified markets. Users in China often experience bottlenecks while connecting to sites hosted in foreign countries, and connection speed also depends on the location. If you haven’t tested your website in different parts of the country or have heard complaints on your website loads from your Chinese users, we are here to help.
The reasons why was your website blocked in China
1. The firewall scans URLs and blocks connections if a website contains sensitive keywords, including gambling, porn, social media, and specific video hosting sites.
2. The domain name was engaged in illegal activities previously, and it has been blocked before.
3. The Great Firewall can monitor each DNS query from a DNS resolver around the world to ensure there is no sensitive query.
4. China’s Firewall system may also suffer from overblocking, a situation where many websites share an IP or address block with a banned website, causing these innocent websites as unintended collateral damage.
The main reason why domain names are blocked is due to the sensitive content, most of them are automatically blocked due to the detection of the Great Firewall of China, and a few are reported by others.
How the GFoC works?
- Packet filtering
- Speech recognition
- IP blocking
- Credit records
- IP address denials based on keywords
- DNS injection
- Facial recognition
What to do if you’ve been blocked in China?
If you’re using a hosting provider outside China, chances are, the IP address will have a high probability of getting blocked. Most organizations outside China use shared hosting. If China blocks any website’s IP address under the shared service, all the other platforms on the DNS or IP would be affected. One option is to get an ICP (Internet Content Provider) license and a CDN in China can get you around this hurdle. An ICP license refers to a registration issued by the state that enables websites based in China to operate within its demographics legally. Every website hosted in China needs to apply for this license and receive the same before going live. When you have this license for your business website, it will be easier to access the Chinese CDN (Content Delivery Network). Eventually, the website would function better in China, overcoming the restrictions. Operating within the confounds of the wall would deliver an experience equal to domestic websites.
New to the Mainland Chinese market?
We can help!
GoClick China is your one-stop technical partner for best-in-class data and monitoring services in Mainland China. We offer enterprise clients solutions and consulting to deliver your website or mobile app to the Chinese market.
Our proprietary blend of Synthetic, Manual and Network testing means you’ll have plenty of evidence at your fingertips around what’s working and what’s not. We let data make decisions. All solutions will be measured via constant monitoring. Whether you don’t know where to start, or you’re an industry veteran with a few troubleshooting questions, we’ll guide you through the best solution for you.
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Goclick China specializes in testing websites and web applications in China and monitoring their performance so that operators can optimize their content delivery effiency to target users in China. We have deployed servers all across China and have boots-on-the-ground dedicated QA testers to carry out specific test tasks in strategic locations in China. We also develop customized website testing and monitoring solutions for your specific needs and on your budget. You can contact us to request sample China website testing reports.
Want to check if a website is blocked in China? Our website monitoring services can keep you updated if a website is accessible in China. Or do you need web hosting in China to keep your site performance at its best? We can offer you the best Chinese hosting options based on our benchmark data resulted from our years of testing websites in China in the thousands. Depending on your requirements and needs, we can assist you in your ICP license application, marketing campaigns and website SEO for your websites and online properties. When it comes to website building, testing and marketing, regardless it is e-commerce China websites or informational portals, we have a series of solutions to help you succeed in the unique Chinese digital economy.
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