hi! i’m studying abroad in shanghai for an academic year from september 2024 - june 2025 and i want to be able to use all the apps i do now. what is a good esim to get for long term and/or vpn that will allow me to do this? thank you 
also what is the internet speeds like when using blocked apps?
using letsvpn currently in chengdu, works perfectly, speeds are perfectly fine for streaming youtube/ netflix. way cheaper than astrill and works much better on ios than astrill
Long term, I would recommend you get a local SIM as well as a foreign for unblocking. Local SIMs are incredibly cheap, you’ll need it for a local number. You basically cannot live in China without a local phone number long term.
China Unicom/China Telecom have the best compatibility with international devices (although if you have an iPhone, you should probably go with China Mobile since CM actually has better global connectivity).
For everything else, I’d recommend 3HK or CUniq. You don’t need to do real name verification for use in China (but you will need to if you want to use them in HK).
VPN wise, if you’re going to be living on campus your choices are actually a bit more open. Chinese universities have by far the best connectivity assuming you’re going to a reasonably large university that’s connected to CERNET2. If you’re familiar with Linux / have used a terminal before I’d recommend setting up your own Hysteria2 server. Otherwise, you’ll probably be looking for a VPN provider that cares about having unblocked servers for China. Realistically any of provider that has a China focus is fine, and your speeds should be pretty good since CERNET2 has really great international connectivity (much better than any telecom money can buy in China).
Try free.passwallvpn.site, good connection with nodes of unlimited bandwidth options, privacy guaranteed.
There are much more people that are experts in this field, but I personally use Astrill, it’s really stable and has a lot of servers to choose from, but it’s on the more expensive side of VPNs. Don’t expect good internet speeds in China when using a VPN, it’s gonna be really frustrating at first.
PureVPN is a great idea. They have a special China bypass method, which always works. I’ve been using it for more than one year now.
Creamdata.net works well in Shanghai. Don’t use its app, read the tutorial in the site and setup using clash meta and use the trojan protocol.
Astrill currently working. But not worth it if letsVPN works and is much cheaper like other poster said.
I second this. LetsVPN is so much better than buggy Astrill.
I got lets for a trip but so far only works on my phone not PC. Any tricks to fix it? It says something about Killer NIC
I got Astrill recommendations from shills on reddit. Astrill works but it is so slow. There are many more faster providers than buggy Astrill. If interested, you can look at my comment history.