China Firewall Test See If Your Website Is Blocked in China
Find out if your website is blocked in China. This free Great Firewall test loads your page in a real Chrome browser from locations inside mainland China and shows which parts load, which fail and how fast.
At a glance
- Tests from inside China: runs only from test locations in mainland China, behind the Great Firewall (GFW).
- Real browser: loads the full page in Chrome, including fonts, scripts, images, maps and videos from other domains.
- Shows partial blocking: every failed or timed-out request is listed, so you can see when only some resources are blocked.
- Visual proof: screenshot, filmstrip and page-load video of what visitors in China actually see.
- Speed too: load time, TTFB, Largest Contentful Paint and Lighthouse scores from China.
- Free: no sign-up required for up to 3 locations; exports as PDF, CSV, JSON and HAR.
How to check if a website is blocked in China
- Enter the URL of the page you want to check.
- Choose desktop or mobile and, optionally, a network speed.
- Select one or more locations in mainland China.
- Click Run Test.
Then read the result:
- The page loads and the screenshot looks right: your site is reachable from that location.
- The main page times out, the connection is reset or DNS fails: the site is most likely blocked in China.
- The page loads but some requests fail: your site is reachable, but resources from blocked domains are not. Typical examples are Google Maps, reCAPTCHA, YouTube embeds, Facebook and X (Twitter) widgets, and some Google-hosted fonts and analytics scripts. The page may look broken or hang while it waits for them.
- The page loads, but very slowly: traffic crossing the firewall is often throttled, especially at peak hours.
Results can differ between Chinese cities and over time, because filtering rules change and are applied unevenly. Run the test from several locations, and again later, before drawing conclusions.
How the Great Firewall blocks websites
The Great Firewall of China, officially part of the Golden Shield Project, controls traffic between China and the rest of the internet. It uses several techniques:
- DNS poisoning: queries for blocked domains return wrong addresses.
- IP blocking: connections to the servers of blocked services are dropped.
- Connection resets by keyword or SNI: HTTPS connections to blocked host names are cut during the handshake.
- Throttling: traffic to some foreign sites is slowed until requests time out.
The lists of blocked domains are not published, and they change frequently. The only reliable way to know whether your site works in China is to load it from inside China.
What websites are blocked in China?
Major services that are blocked in mainland China include Google Search, Gmail, Maps and Drive, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, X (Twitter), Telegram, Wikipedia, Reddit and many Western news sites. Many sites that are not blocked themselves still break in China because they load resources from these domains. Lists change often, so test your own site rather than relying on a list.
How to make your website accessible in China
- Remove blocked dependencies: self-host fonts and scripts, and replace Google Maps, reCAPTCHA and YouTube embeds with alternatives that work in China.
- Use a CDN with good China coverage: serving from nearby regions such as Hong Kong, Singapore or Japan improves speed for visitors in mainland China.
- Host inside China: hosting on servers in mainland China requires an ICP (Internet Content Provider) license, which in turn requires a Chinese business entity or partner.
- Keep a lightweight page: fewer requests across the border means fewer chances to time out.
Re-run the China Firewall Test after each change to confirm the fix.
Related free tools
- Website Speed Test: compare the same page from locations outside China.
- Ping Test and Traceroute Test: check whether your server answers at all and where packets stop.
- DNS Trace Test: check your DNS delegation from the root servers.
To monitor your site from inside China around the clock with alerts, see Dotcom-Monitor.
China Firewall Test FAQ
How do I know if my website is blocked in China?
Load it from inside mainland China. Run this test and check the main document: if it times out, is reset or fails DNS resolution from the China locations while it loads normally elsewhere, the site is very likely blocked by the Great Firewall.
Why does my website load slowly in China even though it is not blocked?
Usually because the page loads resources from blocked domains, such as Google Maps or YouTube embeds, and waits for them to time out, or because cross-border traffic is congested. The waterfall shows which requests are slow or failing.
Which websites are blocked in China?
Google services, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, X (Twitter), Telegram, Wikipedia, Reddit and many Western news sites are blocked. The list is not official and changes often, so test your own site directly.
Which popular websites work in China?
Many business sites work, including most bank, airline and e-commerce sites, Microsoft services and Bing (with censored results), Apple and Amazon. Any site can still be partially broken if it relies on blocked third-party resources.
Can a VPN make my website accessible in China?
A VPN helps individual visitors who install one, but it does not make your site available to ordinary visitors in China, and many VPN services are blocked. To reach the general public, remove blocked dependencies, use a CDN with good coverage near China, or host in China with an ICP license.
What is an ICP license?
An ICP (Internet Content Provider) license is the permit required to host a website on servers in mainland China. It is issued by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and requires a Chinese business entity or a local partner.
Is there an official list of sites blocked by the Great Firewall?
No. China does not publish one. Independent projects such as GreatFire.org track blocked domains, but the only reliable check for your own site is a test from inside China.
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