Not on a normal Chinese connection. Spotify has never launched in mainland China, and its list of supported markets includes Hong Kong and Macao but not the mainland. Spotify's servers are also blocked by the Great Firewall, so the app usually won't stream over hotel Wi-Fi or a Chinese SIM.
Ways to keep your music on a trip
- Download playlists before you leave. Spotify Premium lets you save albums, playlists and podcasts offline. Its help page notes you need to go online at least once every 30 days to keep downloads, which covers most trips. Free accounts can only download podcasts.
- Use roaming or a travel eSIM. Data from a US carrier's international plan, or an eSIM that breaks out in Hong Kong, is routed outside the mainland, so Spotify streams as it would at home. That's legal and needs no extra software.
- Switch to Apple Music for the trip. Apple Music is officially available in mainland China, so it works on local Wi-Fi without any workaround. If you already pay for an Apple One bundle, this is the easiest fix.
Local alternatives
Chinese listeners use QQ Music, Kugou, Kuwo (all owned by Tencent Music) and NetEase Cloud Music. They're good for Chinese pop, but Western catalogs are thinner and the apps are mostly in Mandarin.
A note on VPNs
Many travelers route Spotify through a VPN, but China bans unlicensed VPN services and connections are often throttled. Offline downloads or roaming data are more reliable, and they don't raise any legal questions. If you're heading on to Hong Kong, Spotify works there normally.