One embodiment of the present invention provides a system for reducing the latency in retrieving a web page. The system receives a request from a browser to retrieve a target web page, wherein the request is received at a proxy server, which can retrieve the target web page through a low-latency Internet connection. The system then forwards the request to a host server. After receiving components comprising the target web page, the system generates a substitute web page which includes a graphical image of the target web page, and transfers the substitute web page to the browser. If the browser has a high-latency Internet connection, delivering the substitute web page instead of the actual target web page can avoid the latency involved in transferring the components of the target web page individually through the high-latency Internet connection, each of which may involve a separate round-trip delay. The system can instead transfer a single graphical image of the target web page through the high-latency Internet connection, which involves only a single round-trip delay.