When choosing an overseas VPS for mainland-China users, latency is almost the first concern. Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore are the three popular nodes, and each behaves differently toward the mainland. Here are typical ranges and how to choose (actual numbers vary by route, ISP and time of day).
Typical latency ranges (reference)
- Hong Kong: closest geographically; premium routes are usually 30–60ms from the mainland, while plain routes can spike at peak hours.
- Japan (Tokyo): typically 40–90ms, well balanced toward Northeast Asia and North America.
- Singapore: usually 60–100ms to the mainland, but best for Southeast Asia coverage.
Latency is only one factor
Within the same region, route type (premium return route vs plain international) often affects peak-hour experience more than distance. A plain-route HK box at 8pm can feel worse than a premium-route Japan box.
How to choose
- Mostly mainland users, want the lowest latency → premium-route Hong Kong.
- Balance Northeast Asia + North America with stability → Tokyo, Japan.
- Mainly Southeast Asia / India / global → Singapore.
Advice
Before buying, run a real ping/speed test from your target region, or let support recommend a node and route by your user distribution. 00Shark has nodes in all of the above — reach us on Telegram @aliyun370.