You turn the VPN on so Gmail loads. WeChat calls start to stutter. Alipay’s QR hangs at the restaurant. Maps redraw like 2014. You kill the VPN to pay, forget to turn it back on, and the next morning Slack is a white screen.
That is the default full-tunnel experience in China. Every packet — the one that should stay on China Telecom and the one that should leave — takes the long way out and the long way back. Local apps were not written for that.
Reddit’s China threads treat this as background noise. The loud problem is “does Express still work.” The daily problem, if you live here or stay longer than a week, is that the VPN and the super-apps cannot share a phone.
What should never go through the tunnel
WeChat, WeCom, Alipay, WeChat Pay, UnionPay apps, Didi, Meituan, Eleme, most mainland banks, and the camera-to-pay flow at a convenience store. Those hosts are already fast on the local network. Sending them to Tokyo and back adds loss and jitter you will feel in a voice call.
A browser-only extension cannot do this well. The payment app is not in the browser. You need per-app rules on the phone and a default-local policy on the desktop.
What should go through the tunnel
Google, GitHub, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp, Claude, ChatGPT, foreign mail, the App Store / Play properties you cannot reach, and the company tools that live outside the mainland.
If you invert that list — tunnel everything, exception nothing — you will turn the VPN off fifty times a week. Each off period is a leak and a forgotten reconnect.
Smart Flow on Meridian
Qiao Meridian’s Smart Flow keeps everyday local apps on the direct path and sends the rest through the tunnel. On mobile you can pick by app. On desktop you can keep a site always direct or pin one to a country.
Voyager does not include Smart Flow. It is the two-device plan if you are willing to toggle the whole tunnel when you pay. Most people who eat in this country want Meridian.
Traffic is unlimited on both plans. The split is about path, not about a data ration.
A working daily setup
- Sign in. Take the complimentary Meridian day in the app and build the split while you still have a calm network.
- Put WeChat, Alipay, maps, and the bank on direct.
- Put the browser, the AI apps, and work chat on the tunnel.
- Leave IPv6 off if you have ever seen a leak test fail.
- Pay for food with the VPN still on. If Alipay stalls, the rule is wrong; fix the rule, do not nuke the whole VPN.
Website checkout is Alipay, WeChat Pay, and crypto. Do that from a network that can open those apps. If you are already on a bad tunnel, turn it off for the payment page — the checkout screen says this.
When it still breaks
Hotel Wi-Fi that blocks the tunnel will also make a split config look guilty. Try the SIM. If both die, use the signed-in chat on the site. That is a ticket, not a void email.
We do not store browsing data, DNS, or traffic contents. Device IDs exist only to enforce the 2- or 4-device cap.
Meridian is the plan with Smart Flow. Unlimited traffic is on the same page.