The government censorship focuses on "community" type web applications. Apart from FB and Youtube, foreign blogging platforms remain constantly blocked.

Also Chinese blogging applications were halted just a short while ago while the relevant authorities are reviewing blog contents and deciding on possible further restrictions on allowed keywords.

On the other hand, the authorities have relaxed their approach on internet porn significantly, a very Chinese style decision to give citizens a channel to vent their frustrations from everyday life.

And I'm going to post from China in 5, 4, 3, 2, ...

Great. Glad the Chinese can get their porn. I suppose it is politically harmless.

Apart from being politically harmless, I guess some people on the government side might be getting a decent cut from the website earnings.

Freegate access is unuseable in many areas (my Chinese ISP for instance) so it is not 100% reliable. Definitely load it on before you enter China and check that it's working, as you may not be able to access a downloadable version from inside China.

Related to some other posters above: FT is also hit-or-miss: some people report no issues, some people report access but very slow loading of pages, some people (i.e. my ISP, again) can't get FT to load at all without VPN or alternate means. It just depends where you are and what the local ISP is doing. There are other websites in this situation, that are not technically "blocked."

I've never gotten a reliable lockon with wi-fi except one day in an internet cafe. I generally do not stay in hotels, though.

No matter where I have been staying there's always been an internet cafe within a few blocks. Recognizing the cafe is another matter if you don't read Chinese, though.

Oh really? I guess I must have been lucky. Since starting to use it this year, I have no problem using if from various hotels in Sichuan, Gansu, Tibet and Qinghai. Also at various airports with free wi-fi.

Just look for this sign:

网吧

I take it from the tone of your post that you believe I'm a liar. Whatever.

No, I am stating that I was lucky, and what my experience was this year on my trips. I have no reason to doubt you. Sorry that you misunderstood me.

I let my wife do the locating. She's a native speaker.

If you're bringing a laptop and concerned that finding internet may be a problem, it might be worth buying a prepaid 3G USB modem.

Both China Unicom and China Mobile offer them; ask for a 3G上网卡.

Info on China Unicom's (in Chinese) is at http://3g.10010.com/3gshop/list_3.html

I haven't seen any evidence of such a change. However, because of the amount of porn far outweighs the amount of politically sensitive data, it is inevitable that porn sites will be more accessible in China.

The fact that porn is mostly graphic instead of textual also means that it's harder to filter out.

Hi - thanks for this info - just what i was looking for! I think :) (not being able to read the page).

Basically I have a netbook and will be staying in an apartment and would like to connect to the net. The apartment is not fitted out with any telecommunications facilities and has no phone line or incoming cables (if you can tell I'm not a techie!)

I'm guessing the USB modem is what I'm looking for? From the chinese page are you able to tell me the approximate costs? I would imagine I would need a pre-paid as i have no residency status in China.

I would usually surf for about an hour a day for email, airline info and the news (just text news, no video or voice content).

And help appreciated.

Regards

lme etc etc

EDITED: i just sent the link to a friend of mine in China and it is 80RMB per month prepaid for 1GB data. But the outright purchase of the USB was proving a little more complex to ascertain so I'll look into that when I get there. (you get the USB modem for free if you take out a one year plan, but not sure how it works for less time than that)

If you are only a short-timer in that apartment, then a USB modem is probably the way to go. Any city of any decent size will have at least one big electronics market where piles of vendors will have shops. Take a Chinese friend or colleague along, bonus points if same is a techie. I don't know what these things cost.

If you will be in the apartment for 8-9 months or more, or if your usage might be heavier than you are now anticipating, it might make sense to compare (a) the costs of the USB modem + prepaid data service for the relevant length of time, vs
(b) getting a phone line installed/activated for ADSL, and then using it wired (or with a local single-point wireless router). Normally line service-based internet comes with a telecom company-provided router and unlimited internet use--paid monthly, cost depends on speed required.