Chinese users have been blocked from accessing Gmail in their country four four days, however, as of reporting, Gmail is back online.
Why Gmail was blocked and how it came back online is still not clear but implies what the Great Firewall of China can do.
"We've checked and everything is working on our end," a Google spokesperson told Financial Times.
Users on Chinese social media sites also celebrate the return of Gmail.
Looking at Google's Transparency Report, Gmail usage in China has been going up since Tuesday morning local time. This can be an indication that the Google service is normalizing in mainland.
GreatFire.org, a group that monitors the online censorship occurring in China, is first to report the shutdown of Google's free email service in the country.
GreatFire.org re-tweeted a message sent out by Fang, a writer based in Beijing, which said that Gmail in China was "fully blocked."
According to GreatFire.org, all of Google's products and services have experienced severe disruptions since the month of June. Gmail, in particular, was not allowed to be accessed by Chinese users through its web interface. However, even though Gmail was blocked, email protocols including SMTP, POP3 and IMAP were free to be accessed, which allowed users to access their Gmail accounts through the apps and programs that use these protocols such as Microsoft Outlook on the PC, Apple's iPhone, and many other third-party email clients.
China, however, has completely blocked Gmail from its Chinese users as the country's Great Firewall began blocking huge amounts of IP addresses that are used by Gmail. The addresses are the ones utilized by the email protocols, leaving users with no way to access Gmail behind the Great Firewall.
Fang also tweeted that the traffic of Gmail coming from China has "dropped close to zero" beginning Dec. 27, adding his speculation that the email services provided by Microsoft and Yahoo could be the next ones to be targeted by China.
"We've checked and there's nothing technically wrong on our end," said Google in a statement regarding the shutdown of Gmail in China, eliminating the possibility of technical issues.
The Transparency Report of Google, which provides users with information on which products and services of the company are blocked in specific locations, reveals that there was a sharp decline in access of Gmail from China starting the middle of Dec. 26.
Services of Google were blocked by China prior to the 25th anniversary of the protests in Tiananmen Square back in June, which is an example of how China has been targeting Google.
Google products and search results have experienced different kinds of censorship over the previous years.
Google has been trying to fight back against China regarding the censorship. In 2010, the company discovered a Chinese-born attack that was launched to steal intellectual property held by Google and to access the Gmail accounts of human rights activists in China.
In response to this discovery, Google said that it would halt the censorships on its search results in the country, and could withdraw from the Chinese market completely depending on how officials of China react.
