It looks like I’m going to Shanghai for about a week. I’ll have my iPhone (Taiwan plan) and iPad (wifi only); what should I expect for dealing with Chinese internet censorship? Just how much of a hassle is it? Assorted questions:
I gather some westerners bring in burner phones because they assume any device will be forever compromised. This isn’t something a teacher would need to worry about, right?
What actually happens if I try to use Google? Is it still possible to buy Kindle books from Amazon?
What happens with different apps like BBC, my RSS feeds in Feedly, or my Economist and New Yorker subscriptions? Or podcast subscriptions (in Overcast)? Am I simply going to have no idea what’s going on in the world for the week? (Which, now that I think about it, may be a good thing!)
Since it’s just a week, I’m not bothering to investigate VPN options - unless anyone has suggestions about an easy and cheap short-term one.
What happens with FaceTime or Skype? Are they affected?
I go to Shanghai regularly and don’t do anything special. Anything Google will fail to work, same for Facebook, BBC (often) and many other foreign apps / websites. Those that do work, will be very slow.
The most annoying thing is the lack of Google search. It’s quite refreshing to be without FB for a while.
I find VPNs are more trouble than they’re worth - if you’re paying for one, then make sure it works in China, as many don’t.
Universities no. Hotels maybe but I’ve found over the last year that usually doesn’t work either.
If you buy a data roaming plan from your Taiwan carrier it tunnels just fine and everything that works in Taiwan will work there. It’s expensive, depending on the carrier and plan maybe 200-500 ntd per day.
Free vpns usually don’t work and sometimes even the good paid ones go down.
For a week, I’d just pay the money for data roaming or just do without those things for a week.
Viber and whatsapp etc very slow as they check every conversation , I presume . WeChat works . All the censorship seems to bother nobody there … remarkable . I guess what you have never had …
Thanks. Do you worry at all about additionally encrypting online payments or anything, or just continue with life as normal? The main thing that comes to mind is buying Kindle books through Amazon.
Oh yes, I use Apple’s iCloud to access files that aren’t on my devices. Does that still work, and how safe is it?
Is Apple Pay any more useful? I’ve got it here with two of my Taiwanese credit cards and found it a waste of time in Taiwan - places will have little Apple Pay indicators, but it seems like every time I try to use it, I’m told that store doesn’t work with my credit card.
I guess I’ve got two sets of questions: 1) idle curiosity about what’s going to work and what isn’t; 2) more serious concerns about anything that would be riskier in China than it would be here.
As long as you aren’t emailing friends about how the PRC should be taken down or discussing illegal activity… such as proselytizing, which is illegal in China… I think you should be fine.
I don’t think so. I correspond with students and work through email or a website platform called Edmodo. I assume email will work; I have no idea about Edmodo. And if my news apps suddenly don’t work, hey, maybe I’ll actually read a novel or two!
I’m not sure what else “no Google” breaks - I don’t think that has anything to do with RSS feeds, which are what podcasts also use, but I’m far from certain of that.
I don’t use Apple, so can’t help on that. If possible I avoid online banking etc, and often visa / Amex and the like need extra verification steps if you are using a Chinese IP address. Never had any trouble, just being cautious. Email addresses that previously received zero spam, get spammed regularly after being used in China.
Oh, and Line doesn’t work there, use WeChat instead.
Ah, that’s good to know. I need to set up some kind of messaging system to use with my students while we’re there. I was assuming I’d reopen a Line account I haven’t used in years (since accompanying students to Tokyo!), but I guess I need to use WeChat instead.
EDIT: I’ve searched a bit and it seems like people often simply can’t download podcasts in China. Just … podcasts. Doesn’t matter the provider. So that’ll be annoying.
Almost every Google service works if you use the web edition. Use the .cn domain. they’re still online. Only Google search is offline. Ex: maps.google.cn
Hopping on this thread as I’ll be in China for 4 days in December.
I really hope this is the case. I’ll be doing geocaching while there for which I rely heavily on Google Maps (and I hadn’t even considered not being about to access my Gmail).
Out of curiosity, what mapping apps do folks use in China on their phones?
I am trying to work out a solution to this problem myself.
So far I have my pfsense router running for almost a year now.
I get how to setup my own vpn server here in Taiwan. Only thing left is how to use the www through this router. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rQ-Tgt3L18