As of this date of writing, YouTube continues to be inaccessible in China.

This presents a challenge to share video content in the Chinese market. However, several alternatives to YouTube exist within China, offering unique features and catering to the needs of Chinese users. In this article, we will explore these alternatives, discuss their features and functionalities, and provide tips on simplifying video file replacement for websites for web visitors from China.

What are the alternatives to YouTube in China?

Several domestic video-sharing platforms have emerged as alternatives to YouTube in China, catering to the unique needs and preferences of Chinese users. Some of the most popular alternatives include:

Youku

Often referred to as the "YouTube of China," Youku is one of the largest video-sharing platforms in the country. It offers a wide range of content, including movies, TV shows, and user-generated videos.

Tencent Video

Operated by Tencent, one of China's largest technology companies, Tencent Video offers a vast library of licensed content, including movies, dramas, and variety shows. It also features user-generated content and live streaming.

iQiyi

iQiyi is another major video-streaming platform in China, offering a diverse range of content, including movies, dramas, variety shows, and documentaries. It is known for its high-quality original programming and exclusive partnerships with international studios.

Bilibili

Targeted primarily at younger audiences, Bilibili is a video-sharing platform focused on animation, gaming, and user-generated content. It features a vibrant community of creators and offers interactive features such as bullet comments.

How to simplify video file replacement for your website in China?

Replacing video files on websites operating in China can indeed be a daunting task. Not only will it likely consume valuable resources and time in duplicate efforts, but also possibly impact the existing experience of your website, seeing as replacing an existing video platform with a China-friendly equivalent, may compromise your non-Chinaweb visitor experiences. .

The manual process involves converting every file - past and new - into compatible formats on entirely different platforms, possibly hosting locally with related regulatory requirements, a Chinese-only interface, additional headcount, compromising the non-China visitor’s experience among other actions.

This is where Chinafy steps in.

Chinafy is able to streamline this process by automating the identification and replacement mechanisms for the most commonly used video embeds - Youtube and Vimeo. Besides automation, there are the benefits of a China-only experiences: The videos are purely delivered to China visitors - determined by IP address, so that non-China visitors can access and view the website as they normally would.

By integrating Chinafy into your existing tech stack, you can effectively address both speed and functionality concerns resulting in a faster, and more complete user experience for visitors in China.

How Chinafy works:

Chinafy produces a 'China-specific' version of your site using the publicly accessible HTML, CSS, and JS of your original site. Thisversion of your website is then processed and delivered after optimisation with Chinafy, ensuring that your original site (including its SEO and user experience)remain unaffected.

Chinafy's Smart Actions employs rule-based optimization to address approximately 75% of the most blocked or slow resources. It replaces them with Chinese equivalents or removes those that are blocked without a China-replacement, ensuring these incompatibilities don't impact the functionality of the rest of the website. The remaining % is handled by Chinafy’s expert engineers.

Chinafy then automatically adds China-friendly infrastructure for your Chinafy site. This includes hosting, load balancers and content delivery networks (CDNs) near China or onshore in China (provided pre-requisites like an ICP filing/license are met).

The Chinafy version automatically syncs with your original site, ensuring that any content changes are processed and reflected accordingly. Enterprise Chinafy users also benefit from ongoing change management.

Boasting a sophisticated blend of code and hardware, Chinafy delivers China-specific optimisations and a multi-load-balanced infrastructure, leading to a fully-managed site that's 6-8x faster in China.

Ready to optimize your website for China? Click Get Started to evaluate your website with Chinafy.