If you have not read my post on the 3 Most Important Sites for Travellers Blocked by the Great Fire (Wall) of China.
I have recently travelled to China, and happily forgotten about the Great (Fire) Wall of China, it has caused me great agony in doing my travel research when I was in China.
So, Instead of Google Search, I used Yahoo Search / Bing and Baidu.
In China, Google the grandfather of all Search is being blocked, and when I was doing my research. I had to use Yahoo Search and Baidu. Baidu is a Chinese search engine, it has limited English searches and it would be good if you know Chinese. As I am from Singapore, I had studied Chinese, therefore, when using Baidu, it wasn’t that difficult for me.
So, Instead of Gmail, I used Hotmail and my personal domain email.
When I was booking my hotel, I was not able to use Gmail to received the confirmation email. Therefore, I used bernard@bernardthetraveller.com to received the confirmation email. If your main email address is Gmail, you could use Hotmail to received the confirmation email.
So, Instead of using Expedia, I used Ctrip.
Whenever I book for hotel rooms, I tend to use Expedia, as it has the price beat guarantee. I had reviewed it here.
Ctrip is the china version of Expedia for booking of trains, flights and hotels.
So, If you want to use Facebook and Instagram, you need a VPN.
If you do not want to use the alternative, and would like to continue to have a seamless travel research using Google Search, Expedia, Facebook, Instagram,….and bypass the Great Fire Wall of China.You might want to consider getting a VPN.
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What an inconvenience to not be able to use my usual sites for research and booking! I have a VPN (have done for a few years now!) and it’s absolutely the best investment.
I didn’t realise google was banned in China! Currently experiencing problems of my own in Dubai. I recently moved here and miss real Netflix! My VPN worked for the first week or so and now it isn’t… I could cry.
Hmmm… I was in China 2 years ago and didn’t have an problems accessing anything. I wonder if it has to do with which hotel you were staying at? We were staying at mostly American friendly places with internet that was pretty open. I’ll have to try to remember if we ran into any issues but I don’t think we did. But this is a great resource nevertheless.
I never even thought about this issue while traveling in China! We are all so technology dependent that it would be interesting to see how life without the internet would be since I don’t think I’d go through all that trouble.
wow, didn’t know that there’s a way to go past that. I usually stay for just a few days so I don’t mind but if I stayed longer, this information will be very important. Thanks for sharing.
No facebook!! so sad 🙁 btw im also based in Singapore! see you around!
Yes! No Facebook and Instagram! See you around~!
Most of my classmates in my university course are from China and sometimes, it is so strange to think about that they cannot access the same information as you. It’s definitely an important thing to consider before traveling to China.
Totally! I cant imagine the lack of access to information.
Going to China in two weeks and I am actually curious how VPN works there. I have my own to access US Netflix but I should try your recommendations!
Do try my recommendation and share with me your views.
Sorry you had to much hassle! I hate how facebook and gmail are not working in China. Last time I only had stop over, so after few hours I was back to my normal tools, but it must be hard to stay there long time!
Yes Totally! I was there for a week! That’s why i highly recommend to get a VPN!
I’ve not been to China but I would be able to live without internet for a while, I do that all the time when traveling and love it. Not too long though 😉
Oh Wow I think I have read somewhere in the past that they don’t really use Facebook in China but Google? Gmail? I don’t think I could live without that. Thanks for suggesting VPN to surpass the problem. At least now when I go to China I will be prepared!
What a pain. Having to choose different tools because the Great Firewall (cool name, though!).
I would probably just ignore internet completely for the length of my stay like I did in places where there was no internet or it was so limited that it was easier just to stay away from it.
Cheers!
I’m always so exasperated by the great fire wall of China. Is that all really necessary? I can’t believe you had to go to all those lengths just to do travel research that would be so easy anywhere else.
This is probably why I haven’t even thought about travel to China, so much red tape including a very expensive Visa. Great tips and work arounds on still being able to be connected in a restricted country.
Wow I feel quite naive, I didn’t think the wall was that bad. I had even forgotten about Bing since Google took over our lives lol! This is a great resource and I wouldn’t have thought about these things so thank you for breaking it down with great solutions. A great resource for anyone planning a trip to China.
I know it’s bad to admit, but this is one of the things that puts me off visiting China. Yes it’s a country with a lot to offer but I have so many other countries I want to visit that don’t have all these restrictions. Sometimes I can’t help but wonder why I should pick China over the others
I’ve not yet traveled anywhere that would necessitate the use of a VPN, but I would use one in a heart beat! Sorry, I need facebook.
I’ve never been to China, but I’ve always wondered about then internet and how easy it was to find a way around the firewall. Thanks for a great breakdown of the different options! Will definitely keep this in mind for when we eventually visit!
That is so interesting to learn how much access is banned in China. Good to know there are work arounds though. Will need to look at the VPN option! Thanks for sharing this post.
This is a pretty interesting post. I never knew even Google is blocked in China. We do have a VPN though, being based in the Philippines and all. It’s definitely an essential for expats, I would say.
Thanks for the great tips, with all the restrictions in China you really need to do your research on what is and isn’t allowed. They seem to have their own version of everything, like Weibo instead of Facebook.
Very useful and detailed guide! I haven’t visited China, but will definitely check this post again if I have plans to do so!
You need to visit China, its an amazing country.
Very useful tips Barnard! As usual your blog posts are very valuable.
Keep of the good work!
Thanks Dani for the encouragement!
Those are some awesome tips to survive in China. I always used to wonder how I am going to be there without contacting my family back home.
Thanks so much for sharing these tips, especially alternatives for gmail & google. I can live without Facebook.
China can use whatsapp, wechat, line. So, you are still able to keep in contact with your family!
The Internet has become so much of a given nowadays, it is hard to deal with not always having easy access. As your post shows, though, we find a way. It was difficult when I was in Cuba too. But, I haven’t been places where access is blocked. Good tips! Glad you survived!
It was pain in the ass, but i overcame it!
Oh wow, the hoops you have to jump through just to use the internet normally! Good to know though. I hope someday China stops blocking so many sites…
Yes! I hope that countries allow the information to move freely
Thanks for the tips!! I knew there was a fire wall in China, though it hadn’t occured to me that Gmail would be blocked for being associated with Google. Guess I would be setting up a redirect for when we head to China because that’s what I use!
Might look into a VPN also. Thanks for the practical tips!
Yes! you should totally look into getting a VPN!
Wow, what an informative post. I had no idea! I would seriously have to consider all that madness before traveling there. 😉 Thanks for all the help.
The beauty of the country would make you overcome all the madness.
Very good tips I think lot of people, particularly in the west, take the internet and all it offers for granted. It is always good to have a back up plan in case your favorite websites don’t work, whether it is China or some other country where the govn’t has overt control over information.
I my opinion a VPN is a must for any traveler, and should be used on all shared WiFi’s
Yes i totally agree, the lack of information is a pain in the ass.
I actually just had a few searches of my site on Baidu in my stats. This was strange and I think a good sign. I don’t have a Chinese language version of my site. In terms of searching and emailing from China when I travelled across, I used any site I could access (usually Bing and my Hotmail). I think I updated Facebook and accessed other sites when I was in other countries. For longer stays, a VPN is definitely the way to go. Great advice
Yes! When i was in China, it was literally a pain in the ass using baidu, cause it lacks information.
A friend of mine did a study abroad in China and he hated that he couldn’t get on Facebook. It might seem silly, but I kind of don’t even want to travel to China because of everything that they block.
China is a beautiful place! you should not let it stop you from coming to China.
I totally forgot Google is banned in China. Would be an inconvenience especially if you’re staying longer. Good point to remind people to check everything before or what alternatives to use.
Yes! It is crazy, anything that is linked to google is blocked.
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