I will be traveling to China in January for one month, and I'm seeking advice on how to access websites blocked by China's firewall. My main desire is accessing my Google Gmail account.
A few years ago, I tried using ExpressVPN, but it didn't work, even though it claimed to bypass the firewall. I also tried accessing my home network, but it was either blocked or extremely slow.
What can I do to overcome this issue?
^This. Travel SIM or Roaming = largely Western Internet access.
I'd rather just buy a SIM card there at the airport. Cheap and lots of data, and can make phone calls also.
Know quite a few people in China buying imported phone with eSIM, and then get data eSIM from Hong Kong (both can be done with a weekend trip to HK) to bypass GFW.
Can also purchase an eSim online through three mobile HK. Use like regular data when you arrive in China.
You could try setting up a private VPN in a cloud provider like digital ocean. There are plenty of online guides but no real way to test it until you arrive in China.
Note that before you leave the airport, Chinese customs will take a copy of all the data on your phone and laptop so I'd consider taking a brand new phone and/or laptop
Waiting for the thread about foreigner detained in China because he broke some law about accessing certain websites … oh wait, I think China just makes people disappear unless they're some sort of political pawn to be made an example of.
Did you stop to considering the ramification of what you want to do? Maybe easier to skip the china trip if you can't live without FB/Gmail/BBC for a few weeks.
Chinese customs will take a copy of all the data on your phone and laptop
Sorry, what!?
They also take your finger prints and facial data.
Finger prints seems to be standard nowadays, so pretty desensitised to that. Facial data, seems like its an overreach.. but phone and laptop data is way to invasive.
they take facial data
So , just like bunnings warehouse
Chinese customs will take a copy of all the data on your phone and laptop
Not in my experience.
The only time Phone and/or laptop leave my person is going through security just like at any airport.
Even assuming they try, there is no data interface that can copy across that much data in the <60 seconds it takes to scan carry-on luggage.
When you copy a device you don't take every file, only unique files. There is no point copying operating system files or generic files from applications like Microsoft Office, Steam, Adobe PDF, Chrome, etc. You only need to copy the unique users files like ".doc", ".txt", etc.
If the laptop has a bunch of movie files on it you don't need to take those either as you can just look at the hash of the file and if you've seen it before then you don't need to grab it. If the hash of the file hasn't been computed you can take a small sample of the file, say 10MB, hash that and then check for matches with other files/movies you've already seen.
Also, I'm not talking about carry on. I'm talking about when you line up at customs to get into the country. They can detain you for as long as they want while they wait for the transfer to finish.
They can detain you for as long as they want while they wait for the transfer to finish.
I mean that's Australia too. Just google people being arrested for files on their SD cards or Laptops etc. Airports are the wild west.
"Note that before you leave the airport, Chinese customs will take a copy of all the data on your phone and laptop"
Since when?
We were there in 2019 and that wasn't a thing.
The law was changed so that from 1st July 2024 they can take anything off your phone/laptop if you are part of an "investigation". They don't have to tell you what the investigation is.
OK cheers. So don't have anything sensitive on your stuff then?
@EightImmortals: Yes but also the contacts in your phone are the most useful. Once someone knows who your family/friends are then you can be more easily bribed or blackmailed or your contacts (e.g. family) can be more easily bribed or blackmailed. You don't need to be an important person to be bribed/blackmailed. You just need to work for an organisation that has economic useful data (amongst others).
I know I sound like a conspiracy theorist but I'm just more security conscience than most people. If you want to go to China with your phone that's fine. I just think that if you can afford to go to china then you should take reasonable steps to not expose you or your family to blackmail in the future.
And yes, the USA or Australia could do this but I have a bit higher trust in them and our court system. (Note that I said a bit higher, not that "I trust them completely"- there is a difference)
Note that before you leave the airport, Chinese customs will take a copy of all the data on your phone and laptop so I'd consider taking a brand new phone and/or laptop
Funnily enough, the same thing can happen in Australia.
Nup. Here for my 6th time. Have you ever actually seen the queues for Chinese immigration?
Unless you are 'person of interest' that gets flagged they just want you in and out as quickly as possible.
A VPN to access your Google account is so common its of zero interest on its own. Plenty of business folk use a VPN to operate work systems while in China.
Try Karing App on your phone or PC, this is the tool. https://karing.app/en/
Then you go https://st1.hosbb.com/#/register?code=iegCt2OS after registration you will get 3GB data for 1 day trial. There's tutorials on the websites also on how to set up.
If happy, make your purchase. Cheap, reliable and fast!
Use NORD and set it up prior to arriving following this page: https://support.nord-help.net/hc/en-us/articles/203992431396…
Have you had personal experience using this? Nord in the past years hasn't worked well in China even with their supposedly work arounds.
They've cracked down on a lot of vpn services in recent years.
I would consider looking into an eSIM with security features. I know you can change the IP address with eSIM and it let's you use all the apps.
I was in Shanghai for a day in October. Paid Kogan for roaming and also purchased one of TravelKon's eSIMs. Everything, including Google, WhatsApp, Facebook, etc. worked like a charm.
The only downside is if you want to use WeChat to order/pay for food or purchases - it'll be super slow. If you plan on doing that - might want to consider local SIM/eSIM, but I can't recommend any.
I normally get my folks the 180 day, 15Gb TravelKon esim… solves two issues at once (getting mobile data and bypassing the GFW).
The wife and I just used our Vodafone global roaming thing. 5 bucks a day and were able to access everything and anything with no issues for the month we toured around China.
How recent was this and what cities did you visit? Trip advisor has conflicting reviews on the access to google and facebook. https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowTopic-g294212-i2147-k1466…
My parents found their Amaysim roaming to be hit and miss overseas… more miss unfortunately.
The roaming service started off passable in China (worked on one of three handsets on the first trip), but had issues on latter trips until Dad changed his main phone. The one Amaysim service that worked was on an Oppo A53s and had google/meta services blocked.
In Japan nothing worked.
In South Korea, it was all OK.
I've found a few people here and there who've experienced the same issue.
From what I gather, it seems the handset used plays a part in the issue as well as the destination country's changes to their mobile network (e.g. 3G shutdown). Mum and Dad used a Nokia 8.3 and Oppo A53s and had roaming issues once software updates ceased for these phones. I suspect the software updates contain information on each country's network details. Once Dad changed his Nokia to a Samsung A55, Amaysim roaming worked like a charm in China with no issues accessing Google/Meta services.
Of course, these days, I just get them a travel esim which just works and has more data per dollar spent.
It’s not that hard. You just have to select the right VPN service. Try LetsVPN - Worked flawlessly for me earlier this year.
Astrill VPN, sometimes disconnects but works, using it right now, not sure about others, ExpressVPN definitely does not work.
I went to China earlier this year. I got a roaming eSIM from trip.com (the one that works in HK, Macao, Taiwan, Mainland). Nothing was blocked when using that. I had unlimited data for around $70. I tethered all my other devices to that to get unrestricted access. Doesn't look like unlimited data is an option any more for some reason. Other roaming sims should also not be blocked:
https://www.trip.com/things-to-do/detail/49254037/?curr=AUD
If you have technical expertise you could setup something in a VPS or on a home server. VPN's are easily blocked, so you'll probably want something that runs VLESS over websocket. This was the config I used (used it when on wifi. Didn't get blocked the whole time I was there):
https://www.reddit.com/r/dumbclub/comments/1fayo99/configuri…
You can then use an app such as Shadowrocket (recommended) or Egern:
https://apps.apple.com/au/app/shadowrocket/id932747118
https://apps.apple.com/au/app/egern/id1616105820
Mobile data purchased outside China generally bypass the wall. Don't be too smart there.