Finished contract.
Got paid.
Renting a motorbike.
Going to Cambodia.
Life behind the great firewall of China: VPN in China
Update China internet – January 2015
As of 1st January 2015, the Chinese government further tightened it’s grip on the nation’s internet access.
A rude awakening for many expats hoping to get on the ‘net – nothing worked.
Things have calmed down a little, but the fall-out is as follows:-
1) All foreign sites are throttled.
Regardless of CDN’s, font-libraries, supplementary elements, platforms etc.; foreign sites are subjected to government level ‘throttling’.
2) Mobile VPN’s don’t work.
Astrill, one of China’s largest VPN’s – no longer able to support mobile VPN access.
Hidemyass, the VPN I use, connection is intermittent at best.
This thread on Shaghai expat reports, some are experiencing more luck than others, depending on what VPN you subscribe to.
China’s Internet access – Life behind the great firewall
Since May of last year, when the troubles in Hong Kong first erupted, the Chinese government has been changing the way the internet works in
China.
We’re all aware of the ‘great wall of China’, the system by which China monitors and prevents sites it doesn’t wish it’s residents to view.
Previously, this would have been Facebook, Twitter, certain searches or selected content would be blocked.
Also Youtube.
Not really a massive problem, you could still update your phone, look at maps and do a quick translation. At home, sites were slow to download, but acceptable.
Since May 2014, that’s all changed
China internet restrictions since May 2014
The following sites have been blocked wholesale.
Twitter, Facebook, Google (all sites), Soundcloud, Instagram.
New York Times, Bloomberg, selected international Wikipedia pages, Wikileaks, BBC news and radio.
Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox, iStockPhoto.
Flickr, Change.org and most VPN sites.
China now throttles all foreign websites
Something the government does now is ‘throttle‘ foreign websites. ‘Throttle‘ it, makes elements ‘timeout’ and leaving you with an improperly rendered and unreadable page.
This maybe due to font libraries, or CDN (content distribution networks), such as Google font libraries or Edgecast respectively.
Many sites access these services to serve content in a more efficient manner. When this content is blocked, the whole site fails to work.
As a foreign speaking resident, this causes you problems.
The only way to get around this is –
China VPN
There are a number of companies offering VPN, or Virtual Private Network services
**A VPN is a protocol executed to access the internet through a tunnel, a tunnel where your real IP address and location is never revealed.
to get round these restrictions, and be able to go on the websites and access the services you would at home.
I won’t trawl through them, there are sites which tell you how much and the relative features etc.
I picked the one with the largest network of servers. Hide My Ass!
It’s got services in Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong. Continue reading “Life behind the great firewall of China: VPN in China”
New vermin caught
In the classroom.
Girl catches giant bug.
Seems quite shy about it.
Caught a boy with a Minecraft building block the week before. Perhaps there’s something going on….
Taizhou Bilingual – The end is nigh
All things…
Having found my new apartment in my new estate to be a step in the wrong direction, it was a stroke of luck that the school decided they didn’t wish to continue my contract.
Having lived in the place for 2 weeks, it’s still got no TV and I’m confined to one room, in which I sit and watch the internet.
Not what the contract says, I’m supposed to be provided with a TV (minimum requirement for dealing with the boredom).
Bai xing jiao ling
The estate is called Bai xing Jiao ling, or common peoples estate, which is exactly right.
The leafy boulevards of Fengnan Road have been replaced by dumped sofas and bags of building waste.
The apartment itself is lightly furnished, with a wicker sofa, a table some chairs, a washing machine, a fridge, (whose door doesn’t close properly), and a TV (which doesn’t work) – all covered by a layer of plaster dust.
It’s closer to school, but further from the shops, places to eat, supermarkets and general activity.
Out in the sticks you might say.
It’s really not what I’m looking for. I want to be close to town, near the bars, shops and communications. Where I can have a good time. I was relieved when they said they were terminating my contract.
This, I think, won’t be without drama.
In the stitch zone
The guy from the agency that employed me on behalf of the school said they would pay me until 28th January + travel bonus.
I’m getting the distinct feeling they’re going to try and sack me and get out of paying this $500 bonus.
Someone asked me whether I was receiving drugs in the post in the teachers office, which I felt was a strange thing to say.
It’s not unusual to receive packages over Christmas. And like the other outlandish comments, I let it fall on stoney ground, (so to speak).
It’s 10 days to go until I’m free of the contract and paid up. I’m getting the feeling this week I’m going to be stitched up… so watch this space…
Youtube HaCk3d
Surprise.
Went to go on youtube this afternoon, check for outlandish videos to pass the time. The site had been hacked.
(It’s nice to know they are running Plesk, which is what they use on my web server).
Muslimist
No doubt, my first thoughts turn to the Muslimists and the media furor surrounding their little movement.
Also, Kim Jong Un, who’s always in an angry state.
Maybe someone hit the wrong button. But it’s strange, the ‘favicon’ is still showing in the top right corner of the tab.
Mainstream
It’s only 6 o’clock in the morning here, (as you can see from the clock at the bottom right hand side of the screen), whether the mainstream will report on this remains to be seen.
Whatever the case, I can’t get on the site and have to find something else to entertain my sick mentality.
