Pokemon Go finally available in China, but for only 30 minutes

Despite a country-wide ban, Pokemon Go was playable on mainland China due to a 30-minute glitch over the weekend.

It was on Sunday evening (July 7) when the very brief window of gameplay was open, with Chinese players able to send in-game postcards from Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

People began flocking to ‘TheSilphRoad’ board on Reddit, which is self-described as being the number one spot for Pokemon Go discoveries and research, to share their experiences in the glitch.

One user explains how one of their friends sent over a gift from Beijing, with others being sent from Wuxi, in the Jiangsu Province, and another from Shanghai.

The lifting of the geoblock allowed Chinese players to explore the Pokemon Go world which was branded as “quite the experience.” A Reddit user who lives in Huizhou City, Guangdong Province said: “I have been living here for 2 months, and up until last night, there had been nothing on the maps.

“No pokestops, no gyms, no Pokemon, nothing. Last night, I was doing PvP in the apartment and when I exited the battle league and back to the map, I was shocked: right where I was is an empty gym!!

“And there were pokestops and Pokemon in the wild!!!” Shortly after, the game froze and the geoblock was enforced once again.

It isn’t yet known what caused the ban to be lifted and whether it’ll ever occur again, but it does mark the first time the game has been playable in China due to the ban.

Why is Pokemon Go banned in China?

The augmented reality game came under intense scrutiny from the government in China due to its use of real locations on the map. As a result, they cited national security and consumer safety concerns.

This meant it was never officially released in the area, as the government approves or denies all of the apps in the AppStore.

Featured Image: Photo by David Grandmougin on Unsplash