diff --git a/packages/@vue/cli/lib/options.js b/packages/@vue/cli/lib/options.js
index bfb6cd35e8..2e532cab38 100644
--- a/packages/@vue/cli/lib/options.js
+++ b/packages/@vue/cli/lib/options.js
@@ -53,7 +53,6 @@ const schema = createSchema(joi => joi.object().keys({
   latestVersion: joi.string().regex(/^\d+\.\d+\.\d+(-(alpha|beta|rc)\.\d+)?$/),
   lastChecked: joi.date().timestamp(),
   packageManager: joi.string().valid('yarn', 'npm', 'pnpm'),
-  useTaobaoRegistry: joi.boolean(),
   presets: joi.object().pattern(/^/, presetSchema)
 }))
 
@@ -78,7 +77,6 @@ exports.defaults = {
   latestVersion: undefined,
 
   packageManager: undefined,
-  useTaobaoRegistry: undefined,
   presets: {
     'default': Object.assign({ vueVersion: '2' }, exports.defaultPreset),
     '__default_vue_3__': Object.assign({ vueVersion: '3' }, exports.defaultPreset)
diff --git a/packages/@vue/cli/lib/util/ProjectPackageManager.js b/packages/@vue/cli/lib/util/ProjectPackageManager.js
index 1629156eb6..178a3ec9b3 100644
--- a/packages/@vue/cli/lib/util/ProjectPackageManager.js
+++ b/packages/@vue/cli/lib/util/ProjectPackageManager.js
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ class PackageManager {
     let registry
     if (args.registry) {
       registry = args.registry
-    } else if (!process.env.VUE_CLI_TEST && await shouldUseTaobao(this.bin)) {
+    } else if (!process.env.VUE_CLI_TEST && await shouldUseTaobao(this.bin, this.context)) {
       registry = registries.taobao
     } else {
       try {
diff --git a/packages/@vue/cli/lib/util/projectRegistry.js b/packages/@vue/cli/lib/util/projectRegistry.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..14c7fd76c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/@vue/cli/lib/util/projectRegistry.js
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+const fs = require('fs-extra')
+const path = require('path')
+const ini = require('ini')
+
+exports.getProjectRegistry = (context) => {
+  const npmrcPaths = path.resolve(context, '.npmrc')
+
+  let registry
+
+  if (fs.existsSync(npmrcPaths)) {
+    try {
+      registry = ini.parse(fs.readFileSync(npmrcPaths, 'utf-8')).registry
+    } catch (e) {
+      // in case of file permission issues, etc.
+    }
+  }
+
+  return registry
+}
+
+exports.setProjectRegistry = (context, registry) => {
+  const npmrcPaths = path.resolve(context, '.npmrc')
+
+  let npmConfig = {
+    registry
+  }
+
+  if (fs.existsSync(npmrcPaths)) {
+    try {
+      npmConfig = Object.assign({}, ini.parse(fs.readFileSync(npmrcPaths, 'utf-8')), npmConfig)
+    } catch (e) {
+      // in case of file permission issues, etc.
+    }
+  }
+
+  fs.outputFileSync(npmrcPaths, ini.stringify(npmConfig))
+}
diff --git a/packages/@vue/cli/lib/util/shouldUseTaobao.js b/packages/@vue/cli/lib/util/shouldUseTaobao.js
index 3defc238f8..cc082f4291 100644
--- a/packages/@vue/cli/lib/util/shouldUseTaobao.js
+++ b/packages/@vue/cli/lib/util/shouldUseTaobao.js
@@ -1,18 +1,11 @@
 const {
   chalk,
   execa,
-  request,
-
   hasYarn
 } = require('@vue/cli-shared-utils')
 const inquirer = require('inquirer')
 const registries = require('./registries')
-const { loadOptions, saveOptions } = require('../options')
-
-async function ping (registry) {
-  await request.get(`${registry}/vue-cli-version-marker/latest`)
-  return registry
-}
+const { getProjectRegistry, setProjectRegistry } = require('./projectRegistry')
 
 function removeSlash (url) {
   return url.replace(/\/$/, '')
@@ -21,7 +14,7 @@ function removeSlash (url) {
 let checked
 let result
 
-module.exports = async function shouldUseTaobao (command) {
+module.exports = async function shouldUseTaobao (command, context) {
   if (!command) {
     command = hasYarn() ? 'yarn' : 'npm'
   }
@@ -31,14 +24,19 @@ module.exports = async function shouldUseTaobao (command) {
   checked = true
 
   // previously saved preference
-  const saved = loadOptions().useTaobaoRegistry
-  if (typeof saved === 'boolean') {
-    return (result = saved)
+  const saved = getProjectRegistry(context)
+  if (saved) {
+    result = saved === registries.taobao
+    return result
   }
 
   const save = val => {
     result = val
-    saveOptions({ useTaobaoRegistry: val })
+
+    if (val === true) {
+      setProjectRegistry(context, registries.taobao)
+    }
+
     return val
   }
 
@@ -60,21 +58,6 @@ module.exports = async function shouldUseTaobao (command) {
     return save(false)
   }
 
-  let faster
-  try {
-    faster = await Promise.race([
-      ping(defaultRegistry),
-      ping(registries.taobao)
-    ])
-  } catch (e) {
-    return save(false)
-  }
-
-  if (faster !== registries.taobao) {
-    // default is already faster
-    return save(false)
-  }
-
   if (process.env.VUE_CLI_API_MODE) {
     return save(true)
   }
@@ -84,10 +67,8 @@ module.exports = async function shouldUseTaobao (command) {
     {
       name: 'useTaobaoRegistry',
       type: 'confirm',
-      message: chalk.yellow(
-        ` Your connection to the default ${command} registry seems to be slow.\n` +
-          `   Use ${chalk.cyan(registries.taobao)} for faster installation?`
-      )
+      default: false,
+      message: `Use ${chalk.cyan(registries.taobao)} for faster installation? (Recommend to Chinese users)`
     }
   ])
   return save(useTaobaoRegistry)