Resident in Shanghai for the last 9 years here. Tried Astrill, Express, and Nord, and all of them were problematic at some point and I can't understand how websites like this one or TechRadar keep recommending them. The guy doing the reviews must have never set foot in China... 12Vpn improved a lot over the last years, is it perfect? No, certainly not, but it works and that's what matters...
The only VPN that works consistently for me in China. Yes, it's not the cheapest but it just works, I tried others like Express, Astrill and always had problems at some point. I've stuck to 12 for the last 3 years and will renew for one year. The author of the review doesn't know much about the VPN experience in China...
I've lived in China for 5 years, using both ExpressVPN and 12VPN. The review above is doesn't quite reflect the reality on the ground, suggesting 12VPN doesn't offer an obfuscated connection method and is not recommended for China. In fact, its main connection protocol (which is called Web) uses an HTTPS proxy method based on ShadowSocks, and this is far more reliable than *any* obfuscated OpenVPN protocols. I let my ExpressVPN subscription lapse and now use 12VPN exclusively. They support multiple protocols with China in mind, including specialized tools like v2ray that is developed by Chinese developers for devices that run Linux, even something like a Raspberry Pi. Their Asia servers are fast with low ping times. I agree that outside of China, their feature set is not ideal, but living here and the reality is that their mix of proxy-based protocols and constant focus on Chinese users works more reliably than other methods. Thank you!