Playing PoE from China...

Thanks a lot for all your comments.
i have tried to connect to several gateways (California, Singapore, Texas, Australia) without using a VPN.
The Singapore server is really weird. I have 0 lag and can play with decent ping until that moment where I get booted to login screen without warning. I am not sure if it's instance crash or disconnects but it happens very frequently and not at regular intervals. I think the server is just not stable.

The California server seems to be a lot better (on average 220ms ping from China, which is a bit odd without using a VPN, I would expect 350+).
There is the occasional lag spike and disconnect but it seems to be a lot better than Singapore.
Texas doesn't seem to be as stable from where I am (ping fluctuates between 150 and 260ms).

With a VPN, I was able to play on Amsterdam and London servers for hours the previous days without a single lag spike or disconnect but VPN connections aren't always reliable and there are days where I can't stay connected at all.

I have tried WinMTR on California and Singapore servers; less packet loss on California server apparently; highest ping was 700 or so though.

At the moment, I have been playing with the "auto" connection feature available in the game.
Should I be changing that to a different mode if I get dc / lag? Does that change anything in terms of gaming experience?

Btw, I am with China Unicom (50mb fiber), have my own place and use a wired connection. I have no problem playin games like overwatch, Heroes of the storm and other co-op games.
I've been playing Zombie Army Trilogy co-op with two buddies from the netherlands (He hosts the game from Amsterdam, I use a VPN connected to Amsterdam servers and no noticeable lag; been playing about a month and not one issue).

I know how annoying connection problems can be; I've been traveling and living abroad for a long time (French guy, moved to England, Japan, China...) and sometimes there is nothing you can do.

I really appreciate the time that some of you have spent to help. Much appreciated!

it's likely your ISP's connection to the singapore gateway that's problematic, I play on the same gateway and ever since i got my 300mb ul/dl fiber the connection has been 98% fine. the other 2 % happens on average once a week especially on new patch release

Yeah, I guess ISPs have different routing locations and some are better than others.
I will check if changing the connection mode in game helps (lockstep / predictive / auto).

Otherwise I'll just have to bear it I guess (or move back to Europe >.> )

Edit: It seems that setting "predictive" mode fixes my disconnection issues.
I occasionally get lag but no longer disconnect (playing on California server).

Was finally able to complete the labyrinth on cruel without getting dc.
*relieved*