4 ms·

Are those sites really that big in China? I'd think Baidu and Sina Weibo are far more relevant to the general population.

slacka 13y ago
Before it was censored, Google had about 1/3 of the browser market. People with education always used it for english or foreign searches but generally prefered Baido for Chinese. I lived in Shenzhen which borders Hong Kong. Facebook is huge in HK, so there was a demand for access in SZ. Surprisingly many people asked me for my facebook and I saw many coworkers using it too. When I was in Beijing and Shanghai, I didn't see it used as much except with the young, wealthy international crowd. For wikipedia, the engineers loved to use it. I even introduced a few of them to Tor when they asked me how they could use it outside of the office.
matthewrudy 13y ago
Weibo and Weixin are incredibly popular. But middle class intellectuals who want to prove their western credentials will generally have a facebook account. VPNs and proxies are fairly common, so access isn't really a problem, its just a hassle.
- seanmcdirmid 13y ago
  That was before they started their vicious attacks on VPNs. We've been through 3 paid ones this year, and still can't find one that works.
  - slacka 13y ago
    I have a free Amazon EC2 VPN that's also acting as a Tor Bridge. Over the past 4 years, between Tor and my personal VPN, I've never once been blocked in China. Setting up the bridge takes about 5 min: https://cloud.torproject.org/#get_started https://cloud.torproject.org/#get_started Setting up the PPTP server another 5 min: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PPTPServer https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PPTPServer If you want facebook on your phone, you'll need to setup a L2TP VPN, since China Unicom blocks PPTP. Instructions can be found here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/L2TPServer https://help.ubuntu.com/community/L2TPServer NOTE: A bridge is not the same as an exit node. Exit notes attract attention from authorities, not bridges. If you are just running a bridge, you are only helping people circumvent government firewalls to join the Tor network. The default EC2 Tor Cloud images only run as a bridge.
    - seanmcdirmid 13y ago
      Amazon ec2 is blocked on my home ISP.
      - slacka 13y ago
        You can always use Tor to set it up from home. I was in China when I setup mine. Since I returned, I never had an issue accessing it from any ISP in the states.
  - matthewrudy 13y ago
    I was using VPN ninja without problems earlier in the year. Haven't been to the mainland since march though.

slacka 13y ago

Before it was censored, Google had about 1/3 of the browser market. People with education always used it for english or foreign searches but generally prefered Baido for Chinese. I lived in Shenzhen which borders Hong Kong. Facebook is huge in HK, so there was a demand for access in SZ. Surprisingly many people asked me for my facebook and I saw many coworkers using it too. When I was in Beijing and Shanghai, I didn't see it used as much except with the young, wealthy international crowd. For wikipedia, the engineers loved to use it. I even introduced a few of them to Tor when they asked me how they could use it outside of the office.

matthewrudy 13y ago

Weibo and Weixin are incredibly popular. But middle class intellectuals who want to prove their western credentials will generally have a facebook account. VPNs and proxies are fairly common, so access isn't really a problem, its just a hassle.

seanmcdirmid 13y ago
That was before they started their vicious attacks on VPNs. We've been through 3 paid ones this year, and still can't find one that works.
- slacka 13y ago
  I have a free Amazon EC2 VPN that's also acting as a Tor Bridge. Over the past 4 years, between Tor and my personal VPN, I've never once been blocked in China. Setting up the bridge takes about 5 min: https://cloud.torproject.org/#get_started https://cloud.torproject.org/#get_started Setting up the PPTP server another 5 min: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PPTPServer https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PPTPServer If you want facebook on your phone, you'll need to setup a L2TP VPN, since China Unicom blocks PPTP. Instructions can be found here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/L2TPServer https://help.ubuntu.com/community/L2TPServer NOTE: A bridge is not the same as an exit node. Exit notes attract attention from authorities, not bridges. If you are just running a bridge, you are only helping people circumvent government firewalls to join the Tor network. The default EC2 Tor Cloud images only run as a bridge.
  - seanmcdirmid 13y ago
    Amazon ec2 is blocked on my home ISP.
    - slacka 13y ago
      You can always use Tor to set it up from home. I was in China when I setup mine. Since I returned, I never had an issue accessing it from any ISP in the states.
- matthewrudy 13y ago
  I was using VPN ninja without problems earlier in the year. Haven't been to the mainland since march though.