Route mainland China direct

Route mainland China direct sends traffic for mainland Chinese services straight out on your local connection while everything else you've routed still goes through the gateway. It's off by default and lives under Rules → China mode in the Android app.

What it does

When you're inside mainland China and routing a browser or app through a Hong Kong, Taiwan or Singapore gateway, everything you've routed takes the round trip out of the country and back. That's what you want for Google, WhatsApp or your office tools — but it makes WeChat, Alipay, Taobao, Bilibili or a local food-delivery app noticeably slower, and some of them behave oddly when they see a foreign IP.

With the toggle on, connections to mainland services are matched and sent direct, so:

  • Chinese services load at local speed and see your local IP, as they expect.
  • Everything else you've chosen to route still exits from the gateway region.
  • You don't have to write a domain rule for every Chinese site by hand.

It's the same effect as a big set of direct rules maintained for you.

When to use it

  • Living or working in mainland China and using Reach for the sites the Great Firewall blocks.
  • Travelling in China with local apps (payments, maps, ride-hailing) on the same phone.

Leave it off if you're outside China and want Chinese services to see the gateway IP instead of your own.

Where the toggle is

  • Android — Rules tab → China mode → Route mainland CN direct.
  • Desktop — the desktop client handles restricted networks automatically (see Connection modes); routing is per browser, so the simplest equivalent is to keep one browser unrouted for local services. If your organisation manages your policy, admins can add direct rules for the domains you need.

Common questions

Does this work outside mainland China?

It works anywhere, but it only makes sense inside China: elsewhere, Chinese services are reachable directly anyway and you'd normally want them to see your gateway IP or your own — your call.

Will WeChat still work if I leave it off?

Usually yes, just slower, and some services may treat a foreign IP as suspicious. Turning the toggle on avoids both.

Can my organisation switch it on for everyone?

Admins can push direct rules for specific domains through group policy, which achieves the same result for the services your team uses. See Group policy & TCP forwards.