Starbucks at Solana
I’m not particularly qualified to talk about the ever-changing landscape of the internet in China as it relates the the general Chinese population (all I know is that it involves alot of World of Warcraft), but I can tell you what I know that relates to expats. Basically, the Great Firewall of China prevents us from accessing several major sites that many Americans can’t imagine living without, but there are also some upsides to the internet in China. Things do change, so I will say that this is the state of the internet as of May 2010.
The Cons: Blocked Websites
Facebook (although there is a rumor that a China option is on the horizon)
YouTube
Twitter
Blogspot blogs and some other free blog platforms
Wikipedia (not blocked, but significantly slowed down)
Google image search (loads about 1 page of images and then no more)
Google Docs (for some reason the spreadsheets are blocked)
The Pros: China Internet Bonuses
Google Music: If you go to www.google.cn/music you can listen to and download the entire Google music library legally for FREE. This is a service Google is only offering in China (in order to compete with the rampant piracy) to get some sort of, if very small, foothold on the media market here.
Speaking of piracy…
Youku.com, Tudou.com, and others There are a bunch of YouTube-type services including Youku and Tudou. You can find just about any YouTube video that has gone viral in the States on one of these sites. They also house alot of TV shows and movies (although they have been cracking down and removing some of that lately).
More porn is blocked. China is pretty aggressive in blocking the adult portion of the internet. It’s not 100% by any means, but your kid is much less likely to “accidentally” find his way to the seedier side of the web in China.
What I use
Sometimes the internet stuff really is a pain, but there are ways to work around it.
I use Gmail, Google Buzz, and Google Reader every day, and despite the tension between China and Google earlier this year, there haven’t been any issues with these Google services. The easiest way to make it all go away is to get yourself a VPN. I use PSMail, but I’m not super satisfied with it. Update: We now use and recommend PureVPN. To be honest, having a VPN is a good idea anyway (internet security much?) and it is by far the easiest way to keep your friends updated via Facebook if you’re traveling or living in China.
Check out Thomas Crampton’s blog for more stuff on China/Asia internet and social networking stuff.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I use tudou for watching TV shows – it loads fast and often has “channels” which will let it run smoothly from one episode to the next – great way to waste time without realising it.
I’ve been using a paid vpn lately. It’s not the cheapest but it’s super simple to use and I’ve found it very reliable. It’s called “Freedur”. There’s some coupons out there for a discount if you mention certain blogs etc.
Tudou(means:patato in Chinese) and Ku6 are your best choices for streaming video. Want your Facebook GoogleDocs Wiki Youtube even Hulu BBC iPlayer back? A paid VPN, like Tanya said, is must – have, I am using “FBVPN”, which i think is the cheapest in CN.
Is there a free VPN for the ipod/iphone? I can’t upgrade my Witopia until August and need a freebie until then.