Facebook ban in China.. Is it really too rigid?

[prateeksha]

I have heard a lot about the Facebook ban in China. For one, I have never really come to know a definite reason why the ban. Then, as I move to Beijing this September for a year, my friends already want me to figure out an alternative to stay in touch with them. Long distance calls can do once in a while. Then I guess even Skype is banned. Is it true?

Is the ban on facebook really rigid in China? I know my Chinese friends who access facebook using proxy servers, but is that safe to do? What is a good alternative to keep friends posted with pictures and videos from my life in Beijing in this situation (apart from sending bulk mails)?

[xiaocai]

Then I guess even Skype is banned.

No it is not. It is fully commercialised in China and has its official Chinese website.

[rezaf]

Skype is not banned here and you can buy a VPN software before you come here.

Facebook was blocked shortly after Iranians started to use facebook to organize demonstrations after the presidential election in Iran. I think they realized how powerful facebook could be and if I remember correctly there was something about Xinjiang going on at that time..

[JonBI]

Well, it's the idea that it's not headquartered in China that scares them. Renrenwang is essentially the same thing, but since it is a Chinese company, it can be controlled easily under Chinese law and governmental control. Of course, Chinese internet is totally isolationist - I do not think even if it was available people would use it over renrenwang.

[m000gle]

Short answer:

Skype is not blocked, neither is Google/Gmail (for the most part). However, if you still want to access Facebook/YouTube/Blogger/etc make sure you have a VPN before coming.

Long Answer:

Skype is not blocked, but exists in a legal grey area. The fact its partnered with a local company, Tom, has so far allowed it to operate without regulatory issues. However, given the China only allows its three, partially state-owned telecom companies to provide telephony services, there's no telling if the current status will cause future troubles... That said, to avoid using your credit card with Tom, make sure you have your account/billing set up back home, preferably with an unlimited plan to your country or an auto-refill when it hits $0. You will be able to use credit here, but won't be able to purchase any without either using Tom or a VPN.

The blocks of Facebook, Youtube, Blogger etc are more-or-less run on blacklists, so they are always blocked under normal conditions. Again, a VPN is the only thing which will help you keep in contact with friends back home. Whether its too rigid is a matter of opinion, but it being blocked is a matter of fact.

Google has had its fair share of run-ins with China over the last few years, and lately this has intermittently included BOTH search and Gmail functions. For example, half of the top ten family names, in China, currently cause Connection Resets on Google, but not on Baidu, Yahoo, Bing etc. Even Gmail based university email systems have been affected, a serious problem for overseas/exchange students.

[Lu]

Skype is not blocked, but from what I heard it can't be downloaded in China.

Facebook is not banned but rather blocked. You won't get in trouble if you find a way to use it anyway. Most VPNs still work.

Another way to keep in touch is starting a blog on a site that's not blocked in China. (I had one on a Dutch site named waarbenjij.nu.)

[skylee]

Another way to keep in touch is starting a blog on a site that's not blocked in China. (I had one on a Dutch site named waarbenjij.nu.)

More suggestions on such websites, especially English ones, would be appreciated.

[Lu]

Waarbenjij.nu has an English version at whereareyou.net. A similar site a friend of mine used some years ago is reisdagboek, which appears to be a Swedish site now, but with an English version. They're mostly useful for keeping friends and family updated on your travels/stay abroad, they're not exactly the same as blogs.

I hope this helps.

[jbradfor]

http://www.travelblog.org and http://www.travelpod.com/ are two that friends have used when traveling. I assume they are not blocked in China, but can not confirm.

[amandagmu]

Whatever you do, get more than one VPN before you arrive. Try perhaps a free one and a moderately priced one. Info on this can be found elsewhere on these forums or somewhere on thebeijinger.com. I say two because when one doesn't work the other usually will.... this is not easily predictable I've noticed.

I communicate, without a problem, daily on Skype. My significant other did not accompany me to Beijing and that's how we talk to one another every day. The video can be rather choppy at times, but it works over 90% of the time. My advice is to download and set up Skype (like the VPN) before you go, including stocking your account with some credit.

Also, just a side note: I find that I can access most things via VPN but the problem is connection speed in BJ. Shanghai had better internet but BJ just sucks beyond belief. It doesn't seem to matter what provider or where, it's all pretty slow. I have a broadband connection through China Unicom and hook up directly to a modem and it still sucks. I am, of course, comparing to my home connection in Germany and the one I had in California, which may not be fair.

[gato]

the problem is connection speed in BJ. Shanghai had better internet but BJ just sucks beyond belief. It doesn't seem to matter what provider or where, it's all pretty slow. I have a broadband connection through China Unicom and hook up directly to a modem and it still sucks. I am, of course, comparing to my home connection in Germany and the one I had in California, which may not be fair.

A big reason it's slow is that all data flow between China and the outside gets filtered by the GFW. Imagine the amount of time that takes, even with the latest Cisco hardware.

Connection to sites within China is much faster. You can watch HD videos on Baidu Qiyi or Sohu without any problem.

[amandagmu]

Oh, I know. I watch a lot of things on tudou.com and youku.com, which are definitely fast. The problem is pretty much any non-Chinese site, which given my proclivity to reading history and news sites (in English and/or the real news) means that I'm often hanging.

[Sal]

is it still banned?

I hope VPN works fine

[abcdefg]

is it still banned?

Assuming you mean Facebook, yes.

Read prior posts on using a VPN.

[imron]

And if worst comes to worst, you can look at the facebook ban as a spare-time gain.

[Scandinavian]

worse is that dropbox/google drive and such services are banned too. and lots of news sites. even though I am a facebook user myself, its far from the biggest problem of the ban, but it may be the one people see first when coming to China and wanting to post some pictures to friends at home

[Lu]

What currently annoys me most is that google maps is often not working. Does anyone have any idea what they are supposed to have done wrong? And many restaurants etc haven't realised yet and still have google-maps to show where they are.

[liuzhou]

lots of news sites

Which news sites are blocked? I can open most without wall scaling technology.

UK:

The Guardian

BBC News

Daily Mail

and many others

USA:

Wall Street Journal

New York Times

CNN

and many others

All freely available. In fact, I am struggling to think of any that are blocked.

[xuechengfeng]

It's easy to get around the ban, although most tools I used had horrendous pop ups. That being said, when I had trouble getting onto Facebook, I actually found it quite refreshing to lessen the amount of time I wasted on pointless browsing.

[ccyjie]

There is no need to pay for VPN. I use "无界浏览" to sign in my facebook and keep in touch with my friends.

Here is its link:

http://wujieliulan.com/news.htm