China Beyond The Wall

If you live in China, then you know that poking your friends on Facebook or watching funny videos on Youtube is apparently against the laws and the moral fibre of the People’s Republic and its population, as ratified by a recent white paper on Internet censorship. At the same time you surely know that everybody enjoys freedom of speech in China, because of constitutional rights. This is particularly evident when the authorities clamp down on dozens of blogs.

So cute: how to refuse some free accommodation offered by the welcoming Chinese judiciary?

Every problem has a solution and the relatively few Chinese who are aware of the very existence of Internet censorship usually decide to study or relocate abroad – I am just being sarcastic here. There are easier alternatives and many Chinese know them. If you are a guest of this glorious multifaceted nation and come from a country in which, unlike China, you cannot get arrested if you carry pornographic photos on your mobile phone, then you might need to bypass the Great Firewall - the friendly and cool nickname of this nationwide deep-packet inspection censorship system.

Here are some tips and tricks for dealing with this wonderful technological innovation brought to you by the PRC. Most of these solutions have been tested for you. We have selected a good variety of paid and free alternatives. Free is always good, because nobody should really deserve to be spending money for reading some random banter on an equally random Blogspot blog, which is one of the first social Web services to get entirely locked out of China. Please remember that, due to the very fluid and volatile nature of things here in the PRC, the following links may be already censored by the time you are reading this.

The free options are manifold and usually at your fingertips: sometimes it just takes a rapid Google search with the right keywords, at least when that imperialist and venomous search engine the Big G is not blocked because its shaky ICP licence didn’t get renewed by some capricious government agency.

Notice: When you are using proxies (not HTTP proxies, but downloadable programs) please be aware that you could be sending sensitive data to unknown recipients. A proxy acts as a gateway between you and the Internet (and all the relative information you send), so smarten up: whenever you need to check your Internet banking account, please do yourself a favour and use a “regular” Internet connection.

• The Formidable Turkish KTunnel
  KTunnel is your friend whenever you need to take a quick peek at someone’s blog on the wrong side of the Web, the free side. KTunnel is a simple and effective HTTP proxy: it means that you need to feed him with a Web address and it immediately takes you to your destination. Works perfectly most of the time, although it won’t be enough for you to browse complex sites with lots of widgets and funky features.

• HTTP Proxy Galore: Glypse
  Glypse is a huge collection of free HTTP proxies – more than 5,000 – from all around the world. It acts as a “guide” to all these proxies, in the sense that you will be able to select the most appropriate (and fastest) from a list of graded alternatives. Green options are better, red are obviously worse, and all of them are frequently updated.

• The Swift UltraSurf
  UltraSurf has been expressly engineered to be a “service immune to the national Internet censorship in China” and it has been allegedly developed in the Silicon Valley by “scientists”, i.e. the CIA. It comes in two flavours: a Firefox plug-in and a downloadable software for Windows. Download it, start it up, and sit back: it’s time to enjoy some porn.
  
  
• Freegate, the Chinese Compatriots’ Choice
  Freegate is another nifty Windows utility crafted by some folks who are fighting for freedom of expression on the Internet. As their Website suggests they are obviously well oiled by the American taxpayers. For some strange reasons it is very popular amongst Hong Kong citizens stuck in the PRC and Taiwanese “compatriots”, as they are usually called by law-abiding state workers at border checkpoints, ministerial offices, and so on. Download the software, install it, and you’re ready to breeze. It comes in different languages and has some cool add-ons, such as a Firefox plug-in and an “emergency edition” with STunnel (a safer version of Freegate), just in case the Chinese governments goes suddenly Rambo.

• Hotspot Shield and its Ad-Supported Freedom
  Hotspot Shield used to be one of the most reliable software for “free navigation” behind firewalls of any kind. It is relatively fast even though it has experienced some problems in the recent past, at least here in China. It is free to download, although it forces you to display some frankly annoying pop-up banners every now and then. My advice is to use this ware just as a last resort among the various free options. For Windows systems.

• Mr. Zhang Crosses The Wall, the Home-grown Chinese Solution
  Mr. Zhang was introduced to me by a Chinese friend, and apparently it is quite popular amongst the locals. It is a downloadable software for Windows. It works best with Internet Explorer and needs a bit of tweaking and computer skills for its installation (a guide is available on the download Website, don’t fret). I don’t really trust it, it looks a bit shoddy.

• Puff the Magic Dragon, The Made in China Free/Paid Proxy
  Puff is very similar to Mr. Zhang, as a testimony to the proverbial Chinese innovative spirit. Another favourite amongst Chinese friends, it is only available for Windows and offers a UK and a USA gateway for you to use. The free version comes with some sort of obscure limitations, while the paid version (which you can purchase via PayPal) seems a bit faster and nothing else.

Now we finally know what happened to Segway!What ya gonna do when they come for you? Run!

Paid alternatives include various VPN (acronym for Virtual Private Network) solutions based on L2TP, OpenVPN technologies, or high-quality proxies.  They are usually much more reliable than free alternatives, faster, and more secure. I personally prefer OpenVPN-based options. Paid escape routes from the grasp of Chinese censorship usually come in enough flavours to make everybody happy: Windows, Mac, and even some mobile phone users.

• StrongVPN
  StrongVPN is my personal favourite. Fast, rock-steady, and relatively cheap. It uses OpenVPN and its on-line support is absolutely blissful: 24hrs a day, these guys are ready to help you out – even through remote desktop! Available for most platforms.
  
  
• Freedur
  Freedur is a popular proxy/VPN in China. It is fast, very easy to use (plug and play, practically) and reliable. Indicated to people who want a “sure shot” solution which doesn’t need any tinkering or computer skills.
• Witopia.net
  Witopia.net is the most affordable OpenVPN solutions available on the market. It has many, many gateways for you to select, so that one day you can watch BBC iPlayer even though you’re not in Britain. Very useful, although sometimes slow and unstable.

Disclosure notice: We are simple and curious Internet users, and haven’t received any special treat or hongbao (the famous Chinese red envelopes filled with money, an all-time favourite) by any of the services reviewed in this post.

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