About China
China is Zenlayer's deepest in-country footprint in Asia, with 65 data centers spanning 18 cities from Hong Kong to Ningxia. The country combines the scale of a billion-plus mainland internet audience, the density of a tier-1 carrier ecosystem led by China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom, and strict data sovereignty requirements that make in-market presence a deployment prerequisite rather than a convenience. Few operators offer this combination of mainland reach and Hong Kong cross-border peering under a single footprint.
Hong Kong anchors the international side of the footprint with 16 data centers across carrier-neutral facilities from Equinix, Digital Realty, Global Switch, iAdvantage, and the three mainland telecoms, and carries the full Zenlayer product stack including bare metal, virtual machines, edge colocation, IP transit, CDN, and SDN interconnection. Inside the mainland, Beijing and Shanghai serve as flagship commercial anchors with 12 data centers each, supported by tier-2 hubs across the Greater Bay Area (Guangzhou, Shenzhen), the Yangtze River Delta (Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi, Nantong, Changzhou), the western interior (Chengdu, Xi'an, Ningxia), and further nodes in Tianjin, Jinan, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, and Loudi.
China anchors Zenlayer's East Asia region alongside Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Hong Kong functions as the cross-border gateway connecting mainland workloads with Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, and the wider Asia-Pacific and global internet, while the mainland footprint carries domestic traffic on tier-1 carrier paths directly to the end user base.
Compute in China
Zenlayer runs bare metal cloud and virtual machines out of Hong Kong, where the full elastic stack is available alongside IP transit, CDN, and edge colocation. Bare metal covers Intel Xeon Scalable hardware with up to 384 GB RAM and mixed NVMe and SSD storage, provisioned through Terraform, the REST API, or zenConsole, and billed hourly with commit-term discounts.
Mainland compute workloads typically deploy through Hong Kong to preserve a single-API control plane across Asia-Pacific, while retaining the option to front-end traffic with Shanghai or Beijing through private SDN interconnection. Enterprises that need mainland compute termination commonly combine Hong Kong bare metal with Shanghai colocation and direct carrier peering on China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom.
Enterprise hardware
Intel Xeon Scalable. Up to 384 GB RAM. NVMe and SSD storage tiers.
Premium network
100+ Tbps backbone with dynamic, latency-optimized routing.
Instant provisioning
Deploy via Terraform, REST API, or the point-and-click zenConsole.
Flexible billing
Hourly pay-as-you-go with discounts for longer commitments.
Networking in China
Networking is the center of gravity for deployments in China. Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Zhengzhou carry the SDN interconnection suite (VLL, router, DC port, and where available virtual edge and cloud), and the full tier-1 mainland carrier set is reachable from every mainland node. Hong Kong adds IP transit, CDN, and DDoS mitigation, with direct routes into AWS, Azure, GCP, and Oracle through Cloud Connect.
The default cross-border pattern pairs Hong Kong as the international peering gateway (HKIX, a dozen-plus subsea cable landings, carrier-neutral fabric) with private SDN VLLs extending mainland traffic to Beijing, Shanghai, and regional hubs. Zenlayer's Cloud WAN backbone ties the China footprint to 290+ points of presence worldwide, letting enterprises reach mainland user populations without building the circuits themselves.
IP Transit
Blended carrier routes tuned for the lowest real-world latency.
Cloud Connect
Private, dedicated links into AWS, Azure, GCP, and Oracle.
Cloud WAN
Software-defined backbone spanning 290+ points of presence.
Edge protection
Layer 3 and 4 DDoS mitigation with real-time traffic filtering.
Colocation in China
Zenlayer operates 65 data centers across Hong Kong and 17 mainland cities, spanning carrier-neutral campuses from Equinix, Digital Realty, Global Switch, and iAdvantage alongside telco-operated facilities from China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom. Hong Kong and Shanghai are the primary colocation anchors with 16 and 12 data centers respectively, and Beijing (12) rounds out the flagship tier.
Regional colocation clusters in the Greater Bay Area (Guangzhou, Shenzhen), the Yangtze River Delta (Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi, Nantong, Changzhou), and the western interior (Chengdu, Xi'an, Ningxia) support distributed delivery architectures, disaster recovery sites, and mainland expansion. Standard and high-density rack configurations are available on request, with biometric access, 24/7 remote hands, and cross-connects turned up in days rather than weeks.
Carrier-neutral
Access to 400+ carriers and major regional peering exchanges.
Flexible power
Standard and high-density rack configurations on request.
Secure access
Biometric entry, CCTV, and 24/7 dedicated remote hands.
Rapid turn-up
Cage-to-production cross-connects in days, not weeks.
Cities in China
Hong Kong
HKGThe bridge between mainland China and global networks, dense in subsea cable landings and peering fabric.
Beijing
PEKChina's political capital and northern internet backbone, anchoring traffic for 22M residents.
Shanghai
SHAChina's financial capital and the country's busiest east coast interconnection hub.
Chengdu
CTUWestern China's largest metro and the gateway from the Sichuan basin toward Central Asia and beyond.
Guangzhou
CANThe manufacturing engine of the Greater Bay Area and southern China's primary trade and logistics hub.
Ningxia
ZHYNingxia anchors China's western data corridor, tapping desert solar and wind for renewable compute.
Hangzhou
HGHChina's e-commerce capital and home to the cloud and fintech giants of the Yangtze River Delta.
Shenzhen
SZXChina's hardware and tech manufacturing capital, adjacent to Hong Kong at the Pearl River Delta.
Suzhou
SZVAn industrial heavyweight in the Yangtze River Delta, 100 km west of Shanghai's core.
Wuhan
WUHCentral China's transport crossroads on the Yangtze, connecting north, south, east, and west rail trunks.
Wuxi
WUXA Yangtze Delta manufacturing hub known for semiconductors, sitting between Shanghai and Nanjing.
Changzhou
CZXA Yangtze Delta manufacturing city sitting on the high-speed corridor between Shanghai and Nanjing.
Data Centers in China
65 totalHong Kong
The bridge between mainland China and global networks, dense in subsea cable landings and peering fabric.
16 DCs
Hong Kong
The bridge between mainland China and global networks, dense in subsea cable landings and peering fabric.
| Services | ||
|---|---|---|
| AP-Hong Kong1 (Equinix_HK1)HKG1 |  | ColoIP Transit |
| AP-Hong Kong12(DRT_HKG10)HKG12 |  | Colo |
| AP-Hong Kong14(HKT_TGT)HKG14 | Hong Kong Telecommunications (HKT) | Colo |
| AP-Hong Kong15(DRT_HKG11)HKG15 | | Colo |
| AP-Hong Kong16(Global Switch)HKG16 |  | Colo |
| AP-Hong Kong17(One Asia)HKG17 | | Colo |
| AP-Hong Kong18(HKEX)HKG18 | | Colo |
| AP-Hong Kong19(Global Switch)HKG19 | Huanbang (Hong Kong) | Colo |
| AP-Hong Kong2 (Equinix_HK2)HKG2 | | ColoIP TransitCloud WANCloud ConnectCDN |
| AP-Hong Kong3 (Equinix_HK3)HKG3 | | ColoIP TransitCloud WANCloud ConnectCDN |
Beijing
China's political capital and northern internet backbone, anchoring traffic for 22M residents.
12 DCs
Beijing
China's political capital and northern internet backbone, anchoring traffic for 22M residents.
| Services | ||
|---|---|---|
| CN-Beijing11(北京皓宽)PEK11 | Beijing Haokuan Network Technology | ColoCloud WANCloud Connect |
| CN-Beijing13(北京皓宽)PEK13 | Beijing Haokuan Network Technology | ColoBMCIP TransitCloud WANCloud Connect |
| CN-Beijing14(大族机房)PEK14 |  | ColoCloud WAN |
| CN-Beijing15(China Telecom CN)PEK15 | | ColoCloud WANCloud Connect |
| CN-Beijing16(CUA)PEK16 |  | ColoCloud WANCloud Connect |
| CN-Beijing17(普洛斯)PEK17 | | Colo |
| CN-Beijing18(GDS大兴金隅园区)PEK18 | Beijing Wanguo Changan Technology | Colo |
| CN-Beijing2(北京亦庄机房)PEK2 | VNET Group | ColoBMCIP TransitCloud WANCloud ConnectCDN |
| CN-Beijing5(亦庄国际数据中心1号楼)PEK5 | | Colo |
| CN-Beijing6(北京日上数据中心)PEK6 | Beijing Wanguo Changan Technology | ColoCloud WANCloud Connect |
Shanghai
China's financial capital and the country's busiest east coast interconnection hub.
12 DCs
Shanghai
China's financial capital and the country's busiest east coast interconnection hub.
| Services | ||
|---|---|---|
| CN-Shanghai11(上海新业)SHA11 | Shanghai Quxing Information Service | ColoCloud Connect |
| CN-Shanghai12(云立方)SHA12 | Shanghai Kezhong Hengsheng Cloud Computing Technology | ColoCloud WANCloud Connect |
| CN-Shanghai13(智慧湾)SHA13 | Shanghai Jiyao Network Technology | ColoIP TransitCloud WANCloud Connect |
| CN-Shanghai14(上海数讯)SHA14 | Shanghai Shuxun Information Technology | ColoCloud WANCloud Connect |
| CN-Shanghai17(优刻得上海数据中心)SHA17 | Uncloud | ColoCloud WANCloud Connect |
| CN-Shanghai18(上海皓宽_SH1)SHA18 | Shanghai Haokuan Cloud Network | Colo |
| CN-Shanghai19(GDS浦江数据中心)SHA19 | Beijing Wanguo Changan Technology | Colo |
| CN-Shanghai2(宝山纪蕴路机房)SHA2 | Shanghai Lanyun Network Technology | ColoIP TransitCloud WANCloud ConnectCDN |
| CN-Shanghai20(亚细通)SHA20 | Shanghai AsiaTone Data System | Colo |
| CN-Shanghai5(Equinix SH5)SHA5 | Datang Gaohong Information Technology | ColoIP TransitCloud WANCloud Connect |
Guangzhou
The manufacturing engine of the Greater Bay Area and southern China's primary trade and logistics hub.
3 DCs
Guangzhou
The manufacturing engine of the Greater Bay Area and southern China's primary trade and logistics hub.
| Services | ||
|---|---|---|
| CN-Guangzhou5(广州华新园)CAN5 | Guangzhou Dayi Internet Technology | ColoBMCIP TransitCloud WANCloud ConnectCDN |
| CN-Guangzhou6(广州广之旅)CAN6 | Shanghai Lanyun Network Technology | Colo |
| CN-Guangzhou8(南翔云数据中心)CAN8 | Guangzhou Zitop Technology | ColoCloud WANCloud Connect |
Ningxia
Ningxia anchors China's western data corridor, tapping desert solar and wind for renewable compute.
3 DCs
Ningxia
Ningxia anchors China's western data corridor, tapping desert solar and wind for renewable compute.
| Services | ||
|---|---|---|
| CN-Ningxia1(宁夏中卫市)ZHY1 | | ColoCloud WANCloud Connect |
| CN-Ningxia2(誉成云创数据中心)ZHY2 | Ningxia Lening Technology | ColoCloud WANCloud Connect |
| CN-Ningxia3(中卫市工业园区)ZHY3 | | Colo |
Chengdu
Western China's largest metro and the gateway from the Sichuan basin toward Central Asia and beyond.
2 DCs
Chengdu
Western China's largest metro and the gateway from the Sichuan basin toward Central Asia and beyond.
| Services | ||
|---|---|---|
| CN-Chengdu2(成都移动机房)CTU2 | Chengdu Yijian | Colo |
| CN-Chengdu4(成都中立数据)CTU4 | Chengdu Zhongli Data Technology | ColoBMCCloud WANCloud Connect |
Hangzhou
China's e-commerce capital and home to the cloud and fintech giants of the Yangtze River Delta.
2 DCs
Hangzhou
China's e-commerce capital and home to the cloud and fintech giants of the Yangtze River Delta.
| Services | ||
|---|---|---|
| CN-Hangzhou2(杭州2)HGH2 | VNET Group | ColoCloud WANCloud Connect |
| CN-Hangzhou5(西溪数据中心)HGH5 | Zhejiang Yunyin Data Technology | Colo |
Shenzhen
China's hardware and tech manufacturing capital, adjacent to Hong Kong at the Pearl River Delta.
2 DCs
Shenzhen
China's hardware and tech manufacturing capital, adjacent to Hong Kong at the Pearl River Delta.
| Services | ||
|---|---|---|
| CN-Shenzhen1(深圳三号数据中心红柳道3号路)SZX1 | Beijing Wanguo Changan Technology | ColoCloud WANCloud Connect |
| CN-Shenzhen2(互盟科技)SZX2 | Shenzhen Humen Technology | ColoBMCIP TransitCloud WANCloud Connect |
Suzhou
An industrial heavyweight in the Yangtze River Delta, 100 km west of Shanghai's core.
2 DCs
Suzhou
An industrial heavyweight in the Yangtze River Delta, 100 km west of Shanghai's core.
| Services | ||
|---|---|---|
| CN-Suzhou1(新海宜)SZV1 | Suzhou Jifeng Huanya Information Technology | Colo |
| CN-Suzhou2(星湖街创意产业园)SZV2 | Suzhou Guoke Integrated Data Center | ColoCloud WANCloud Connect |
Wuhan
Central China's transport crossroads on the Yangtze, connecting north, south, east, and west rail trunks.
2 DCs
Wuhan
Central China's transport crossroads on the Yangtze, connecting north, south, east, and west rail trunks.
| Services | ||
|---|---|---|
| CN-Wuhan2(世纪互联光谷数据中心)WUH2 | Wuhan Maiyi Information Technology | ColoCloud WANCloud Connect |
| CN-Wuhan4(中信)WUH4 | CITIC Digital Technology Group | ColoCloud WANCloud Connect |
Wuxi
A Yangtze Delta manufacturing hub known for semiconductors, sitting between Shanghai and Nanjing.
2 DCs
Wuxi
A Yangtze Delta manufacturing hub known for semiconductors, sitting between Shanghai and Nanjing.
| Services | ||
|---|---|---|
| CN-Wuxi2(江苏恒云太-EB2)WUX2 | Jiangsu Hengyuntai Information Technology | ColoCloud Connect |
| CN-Wuxi3(无锡国际数据中心)WUX3 | Jiangsu Weimu Information Technology | Colo |
Changzhou
A Yangtze Delta manufacturing city sitting on the high-speed corridor between Shanghai and Nanjing.
1 DC
Changzhou
A Yangtze Delta manufacturing city sitting on the high-speed corridor between Shanghai and Nanjing.
| Services | ||
|---|---|---|
| CN-Changzhou1(常州移动)CZX1 | Beijing Jiuyun Infinite Network Technology | Colo |
1 DC
| Services | ||
|---|---|---|
| CN-Deyang3(德阳移动)CTU3 | Chengdu Yijian | Colo |
Jinan
Capital of Shandong province and a regional gateway between Beijing and the Yangtze Delta.
1 DC
Jinan
Capital of Shandong province and a regional gateway between Beijing and the Yangtze Delta.
| Services | ||
|---|---|---|
| CN-Jinan4(中信POP)TNA4 | CITIC Digital Technology Group | ColoBMCIP TransitCloud WANCloud Connect |
Nantong
A Yangtze-mouth port metro directly across the river from Shanghai, extending the delta's digital reach.
1 DC
Nantong
A Yangtze-mouth port metro directly across the river from Shanghai, extending the delta's digital reach.
| Services | ||
|---|---|---|
| CN-Nantong1(南通旗云)NTG1 | Nantong Qiyun Technology | Colo |
Tianjin
Northern China's largest coastal port, serving as the seaborne gateway to Beijing 130 km inland.
1 DC
Tianjin
Northern China's largest coastal port, serving as the seaborne gateway to Beijing 130 km inland.
| Services | ||
|---|---|---|
| CN-Tianjin2(铜牛数据中心)TSN2 | Tianjin Tongniu Information Technology | ColoCloud Connect |
Xi'an
The inland anchor of northwest China and the ancient Silk Road's starting point toward Central Asia.
1 DC
Xi'an
The inland anchor of northwest China and the ancient Silk Road's starting point toward Central Asia.
| Services | ||
|---|---|---|
| CN-Xian5(特发西港)XIY5 | Beijing Lewang Tianxia Information Technology | ColoBMCIP TransitCloud WANCloud Connect |
Zhengzhou
Henan's provincial capital and a central China crossroads where north-south and east-west rail corridors meet.
1 DC
Zhengzhou
Henan's provincial capital and a central China crossroads where north-south and east-west rail corridors meet.
| Services | ||
|---|---|---|
| CN-Zhengzhou3(景安机房)CGO3 | | ColoBMCIP TransitCloud WANCloud Connect |
FAQs
Common questions about deploying compute, networking, and colocation infrastructure in China.
Where are Zenlayer data centers located in China?
<p>Zenlayer operates 65 data centers across 18 cities. The largest concentrations are in Hong Kong (16), Beijing (12), and Shanghai (12), followed by tier-2 hubs including Chengdu, Guangzhou, Ningxia, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Wuhan, and Wuxi. Additional nodes cover Changzhou, Jinan, Nantong, Tianjin, Xi'an, Zhengzhou, and Loudi. Hong Kong facilities include Equinix, Digital Realty, Global Switch, iAdvantage, and the three mainland telecoms, while mainland sites connect directly to China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom backbones.</p>
What services are available in China?
<p>Hong Kong offers the full Zenlayer portfolio: bare metal cloud, virtual machines, edge colocation, IP transit, CDN, SDN interconnection (VLL, router, virtual edge, DC port, cloud), and cloud WAN and cloud connect. Shanghai offers edge colocation, IP transit, CDN, and SDN services including VLL, router, DC port, and cloud interconnection. Beijing and Guangzhou provide SDN router and VLL for private interconnection, and additional mainland cities offer colocation and SDN VLL tailored to the local carrier ecosystem.</p>
Should enterprises choose Hong Kong or mainland China for their deployment?
<p>It depends on the workload. Hong Kong is the right choice for cross-border traffic, Asia-Pacific distribution, and workloads that need neutral peering or access to international submarine cable capacity. Mainland cities are the right choice when traffic must terminate inside the mainland for latency, licensing, or data sovereignty reasons. Many enterprises run paired deployments, using Hong Kong as the cross-border peering gateway and Beijing, Shanghai, or a regional tier-2 city for mainland delivery.</p>
What countries does Zenlayer operate in near China?
<p>China sits within Zenlayer's East Asia region alongside Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Hong Kong is the primary cross-border peering hub connecting these markets, with direct routes to Tokyo, Seoul, and Taipei supporting sub-50ms latency for regional workloads. Zenlayer's wider Asia-Pacific footprint extends into Southeast Asia through Singapore, Jakarta, Bangkok, Manila, Ho Chi Minh City, and Hanoi.</p>
Why does Hong Kong matter for mainland China workloads?
<p>Hong Kong is the default interconnection point between mainland China and the rest of the internet. It hosts more than a dozen subsea cable landings, the HKIX peering fabric, and a neutral multi-carrier ecosystem that lets mainland-facing workloads reach global networks without the routing and policy complexity of international IP transit from inside the mainland. For cross-border SaaS, gaming, and enterprise connectivity, Hong Kong is typically the first deployment a team considers.</p>
Does Zenlayer provide mainland coverage beyond Beijing and Shanghai?
<p>Yes. Beyond the flagship anchors in Beijing and Shanghai (12 data centers each), Zenlayer operates across 15 additional mainland cities including Chengdu, Guangzhou, Ningxia, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Wuhan, Wuxi, Changzhou, Jinan, Nantong, Tianjin, Xi'an, Zhengzhou, and Loudi. This distribution supports regional content delivery, secondary compute, and disaster recovery architectures across the Greater Bay Area, Yangtze River Delta, and the western interior.</p>
Deploy Infrastructure in China
Talk with Zenlayer to design a China deployment that pairs Hong Kong cross-border peering with mainland presence across Beijing, Shanghai, and regional tier-2 cities.