Why browse through a China proxy
The Chinese internet is its own ecosystem. Shopping happens on Taobao, Tmall, JD.com and Pinduoduo, search on Baidu, video on Bilibili, iQIYI and Youku, and payments through Alipay and WeChat Pay. Many of these services show visitors from outside mainland China a cut-down international page, a different language version, or nothing at all.
A China web proxy shows you the page as it loads for a visitor in mainland China. Your request reaches the site from a Chinese residential IP address, so you see Simplified Chinese editions, prices in yuan (RMB) and the content served to local users. It also works the other way: it is a quick way to see whether your own website loads for visitors in China, and how fast.
What a Chinese IP address changes
Sites that adapt to the visitor's location will usually show a Chinese IP:
- Prices in yuan on Chinese marketplaces and brand stores
- Baidu results and local listings as searchers in China see them
- Simplified Chinese editions of international brands' sites
- Chinese app pages and regional pricing for software and games
- Whether your own site, fonts, maps and scripts load for mainland visitors
Residential Chinese IPs, not a server in Hong Kong
Many proxies sold as Chinese actually exit in Hong Kong, which mainland sites treat as a separate region with different content. Shifter Web Proxy exits through residential connections on mainland Chinese broadband and mobile networks, so sites see an ordinary mainland visitor.
A Chinese IP shows the mainland view of the web, and that includes its limits: many international services are not reachable from mainland connections. Shifter Web Proxy is for seeing local content, not a way around restrictions. The free tool picks the exit IP for you; Shifter residential proxy plans add city and ISP targeting with sticky sessions where IPs are available.
How to use the free China web proxy
China is already selected in the form above. Enter a web address, select Browse and complete the quick check. A separate tab opens on the site through China, and its toolbar has back, forward, reload and a country picker. You get 30 minutes and 100 MB a day at no cost, with no signup and nothing to install.
To compare the mainland version of a page with the Taiwanese or Singaporean one, switch country in the toolbar and reload. Your allowance carries across all 54 countries.
Who uses a China proxy
Cross-border sellers and importers compare yuan prices on Chinese marketplaces. Brands and agencies check how their Chinese-language sites and Baidu listings appear to local users. Web developers test whether pages, CDNs and third-party scripts load for mainland visitors. Researchers and students of the Chinese market look at local content as residents see it.
Need Chinese IPs for testing and research
Residential proxies give you mainland Chinese IPs for your own browser, scraper or app, with sticky sessions and targeting where available, for site availability tests, price research and Baidu SEO.