Google (mail/calendar) in China
Aug 1, 2014, 4:06 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: LHR GVA HKG TLV PVG JFK
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Posts: 3,952
Google (mail/calendar) in China
As a frequent traveller to China I have seen overtime the degradation of access but for a while it was just use google HK and gmail/calendar was fine
on my recent trip I only had on and off gmail access, no ability to download files very rare calendar access and no search capability (used Bing...)
I even went to Shangrila hotel where I used to get full access (incl FB!) no go anymore
What do people do? it is time to (finally) use a VPN? recommendations?
on my recent trip I only had on and off gmail access, no ability to download files very rare calendar access and no search capability (used Bing...)
I even went to Shangrila hotel where I used to get full access (incl FB!) no go anymore
What do people do? it is time to (finally) use a VPN? recommendations?
Aug 1, 2014, 4:51 am
#2
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 1,934
There are some who swear by using the local options but that's not for me so I use VPN for regular Internet usage (google sites, FB, "censored" news sites etc). I'm using both StrongVPN and 12vpn which are pretty much OK in my experience.
Aug 1, 2014, 5:58 am
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,223
Google (mail/calendar) in China
Yeah, google doesn't work anymore in shanghai at least. I've switched to bing as my search engine. To access gmail and google docs the easiest way is to spring for a VPN, at least until they start blocking those.
Aug 1, 2014, 6:05 am
#4
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: KIX, ITM, UKB, YVR
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Posts: 2,356
Both in Shanghai and Wenzhou, my google did not work very well last week but my google calendar worked fine.
I find that it really is a crap shoot, some areas are OK one day and not OK the next.
When I have trouble, I usually use Witopia VPN. Search this forum, you will see various VPN suggestions.
I find that it really is a crap shoot, some areas are OK one day and not OK the next.
When I have trouble, I usually use Witopia VPN. Search this forum, you will see various VPN suggestions.
Aug 1, 2014, 12:33 pm
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 38,410
The last time I was in Shanghai (Nov 2013) gmail worked fine although laggy. Google has not worked in the internet cafes for some time now but it *DID* work when used on someone's personal computer. Bing was also out in the cafe but Yahoo still worked. Google and Bing make all search results link to Baidu instead--which is all but useless for an English speaker.
Aug 3, 2014, 7:32 am
#8
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 42,031
Can you give us any performance related stats? Do their servers ever get slammed with traffic? The 100/year price sounds nice but if it's no better than free services performance wise I'll continue to pay 5x that.
Aug 3, 2014, 9:47 am
#9
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Shanghai, Singapore
Programs: SQ*G, SPG Platinum, FPC Premier
Posts: 339
Google wouldn't run on my iPhone and Bing does yield results but they're so bad. Used to be that Google searches led one to the HK site. Baidu's only good to search for Chinese searches.
Aug 3, 2014, 12:28 pm
#10
Join Date: Dec 2012
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Baidu is terrible. Scams can easily appear at the top of search results as long as they pay Baidu enough money.
Aug 9, 2014, 10:52 pm
#13
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Indore
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Aug 13, 2014, 12:11 am
#14
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: San Diego
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Posts: 96
FYI Gmail via IMAP works no problem (and has never been blocked AFAIK), if you don't need the web interface. Various Google Calendar syncing apps are also not blocked so you can continue to use your Google Calendar with things like Outlook or your phone.
Aug 19, 2014, 9:08 am
#15
Join Date: May 2009
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