Two VPS with the same spec in the same datacenter can deliver wildly different experiences for mainland China users — and the difference is usually not the machine but the "route". This guide demystifies China-optimized routes and what vendors mean by CN2 GIA and BGP.
1. What a "Route" Is
A route is the network path traffic takes back to mainland China. The better the path, the less detouring, lower packet loss, and steadier peak hours. No matter how much bandwidth is advertised, a poor route still lags at night.
2. Common Routes, Worst to Best
- Plain BGP / international: cheapest; usable by day, often detours and drops packets at peak.
- CN2 GT: a China Telecom optimized route, steadier than plain international, mid-priced.
- CN2 GIA: China Telecom's premium route — steadiest at peak, lowest latency, priciest; the top pick for paying mainland users.
- CMI / China Mobile direct: especially friendly to China Mobile users, good value.
3. How to Tell a Machine's Route
- Use traceroute / mtr to see whether the return path passes through 59.43.x.x (the China Telecom CN2 marker range).
- Test latency and loss at peak (20:00–23:00) — more telling than daytime.
- Vendors usually state the route type; when unsure, just ask support.
4. Buying Advice
- Latency-sensitive workloads for paying mainland users (gaming, video, real-time) → prefer CN2 GIA or a premium return route.
- International-only traffic with no China-latency need → plain routes save money.
- Hong Kong and Japan are geographically close; on good routes, return latency can be as low as 30–60ms.
SharkCloud's Hong Kong and Japan nodes are route-optimized for mainland access; ask support on Telegram @aliyun370 for specifics.