# Gemini API in China — no VPN, no foreign card

> Markdown mirror of https://router.one/gemini-api-china for AI assistants and crawlers. Router One is an OpenAI-compatible LLM API gateway.
> Last updated: 2026-08-26

Router One makes Gemini models callable from Mainland China without a VPN or foreign card: the same OpenAI-compatible endpoint https://api.router.one/v1 and key that reach GPT, Claude and DeepSeek, billed per token with a cost trace for every request. Google's own Gemini endpoints are blocked for mainland networks and bill to a foreign card; the gateway removes both blockers.

## Direct access, no VPN

Gemini models answer through the OpenAI-compatible endpoint at https://api.router.one/v1. Review the published benchmark below before relying on any point-in-time network result.

## Million-token context

Gemini's long-context models (up to 1M tokens on select models) are in the catalog with live pricing — long documents, codebases, and multimodal inputs included.

## Pay in RMB

Top up with a card or Alipay through one hosted checkout, or with USDT/USDC on six chains. Metered per token, pay-as-you-go — no Google Cloud billing account needed.

## Review the China latency benchmark

This setup guide does not make a separate latency promise. The published snapshot, last updated 2026-05-15, covers Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen on China Telecom, China Unicom, and China Mobile in a rolling 7-day window. It is not an SLA, and individual networks may vary; review the full method and caveats before judging fit for your workload.

## Gemini models in the catalog

Model IDs as you pass them in the model field — the lineup follows the live catalog, and current per-token rates, context windows, and capability tags are on the models page.

| Model ID | What it is |
| --- | --- |
| google/gemini-3.7-flash | Newest Flash generation, listed 2026-08-17 — 1M context, 64K max output, vision and tool calling; the high-volume budget pick |
| google/gemini-3.6-flash | Previous Flash generation — 1M context, 64K max output, vision and tool calling |
| google/gemini-3.5-flash | Earlier Flash generation — same 1M context and 64K max output; keep it for prompts already validated on it |
| google/gemini-3-flash-preview | Gemini 3 Flash preview — 1M context, vision and tool calling |
| google/gemini-3.1-pro-preview | Current Pro generation — 1M context, vision and tool calling; long-context analysis and hard reasoning |
| google/gemini-3-pro-preview-11-2025 | Previous Pro generation (November 2025 preview) — 1M context, vision and tool calling |

## 3-step setup

Any OpenAI-compatible client works — set the base URL, pick a Gemini model ID from the catalog, and call.

### Create a Router One API key

Sign up at router.one and create an API key in the dashboard. Top up with a card or Alipay on the hosted checkout, or with USDT/USDC — no foreign credit card required.

### Point your client at the gateway

Set the base URL to https://api.router.one/v1 in the OpenAI SDK or any compatible tool, and use a Gemini model ID copied from the /models page.

### Send a request and verify

Make a chat completion call, then open Dashboard → Logs to see the trace: model, tokens, latency, and cost for the request.

`gemini-via-router-one.sh`

```bash
# Gemini via the OpenAI-compatible endpoint
curl -X POST https://api.router.one/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk-your-router-one-key" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"model": "<gemini-model-id>",
       "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "你好"}]}'
```

- No low fixed cap for normal paid usage. Abuse prevention, per-account protection limits, and upstream constraints may still apply; if a request returns 429, check Dashboard -> Logs or contact support to raise limits.

## FAQ

### Why can't I call the Gemini API directly from China?

Google blocks its Generative AI endpoints for Mainland China network space, and billing requires a foreign card. A VPN adds latency and instability; a China-reachable gateway avoids both.

### Which Gemini models are available?

The chat lineup currently spans google/gemini-3.7-flash, google/gemini-3.6-flash, google/gemini-3.5-flash and google/gemini-3-flash-preview on the Flash side, and google/gemini-3.1-pro-preview and google/gemini-3-pro-preview-11-2025 on the Pro side. The catalog updates as models ship or retire, so treat /models as the source of truth for the live lineup, per-token rates, context windows, and capability tags.

### Do I use Google's SDK?

No — you call Gemini models through the OpenAI-compatible interface: the official OpenAI SDK, curl, or any compatible client. Vision input works via standard image_url content parts.

### How does pricing compare to official rates?

Billing is metered per token with discounted rates on select models — the /models page shows every Gemini model's current effective price, struck through against its base rate.

### Is there a detailed setup guide?

Yes — the Gemini API China guide on the blog walks through configuration step by step, including model selection and common errors.

## See also

- Use the OpenAI-compatible API correctly: https://router.one/openai-compatible-api
- Work through Gemini setup and common errors: https://router.one/blog/gemini-api-china-guide
- Generate images with Gemini 3 Pro Image and 3.1 Flash Image: https://router.one/image-generation-api
- Reach the Grok API from China on the same key: https://router.one/grok-api-china
- Fund the Gemini wallet with Alipay: https://router.one/alipay-llm-api
- Canonical page: https://router.one/gemini-api-china
- Models and per-model token rates: https://router.one/models (markdown: https://router.one/models.md)
- Pricing: https://router.one/pricing
- API docs (markdown): https://router.one/docs.md
- Company facts: https://router.one/facts/company.md