Beijing Hotels and Great Firewall of China
Jan 2, 2019, 3:33 am
#1
Original Poster
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Beijing Hotels and Great Firewall of China
Anyone have any recent experience with any of the upscale Marriott hotels (W, Ritz, St. R, JW, etc. in Beijing) offering internet that can access facebook, YouTube, etc? I know China has been cracking down of late but I know some hotels still build VPNs into WiFi.
Jan 2, 2019, 6:50 am
#4
Join Date: Aug 2002
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I was recently in Shanghai and Beijing and all the hotels WiFi blocked these websites. VPN still works though and non Chinese SIMS do not have these restrictions. So sometimes it was easier to just roam on my phone.
Jan 2, 2019, 8:20 am
#6
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The Hongta Hotel in Shanghai allowed access to gmail and Facebook - I figured they were using a corporate SPG connection that tunneled through the firewall. That was back in early 2018, though.
Jan 2, 2019, 10:10 am
#7
Join Date: Mar 2018
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If you're planning on staying at the St. R, I would advise caution as Beijing likes to spy on people and I'm certain that happened to me on my last stay. They also do not have VPN built into their WiFi but I was able to VPN out albeit at excruciating speeds.
Jan 2, 2019, 10:16 am
#8
Join Date: Mar 2017
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Make sure you load VPN's on your phone, tablet, etc. BEFORE you get to China. It is virtually impossible to download them once you are there as they are all blocked on the app stores
Jan 2, 2019, 10:32 am
#9
Join Date: Dec 2015
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I don't much like posting when it's a "me too" type of post but essentially what you've heard here was accurate as of 30 days ago. I was in Beijing 2x this year and it was the same. Mikeinchina's advice about getting a VPN setup *before* you go is solid as I tried on my first trip and did not have a lot of luck. I've used the FB link to login to some sites (including expertflyer) which obviously didn't work (thanks to the EF folks, they got me around it).
Steve
Steve
Jan 2, 2019, 11:27 am
#10
Formerly known as newbie elite
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I had set up a VPN last year before my trips, never used it. Roaming on my non-chinese SIM let me access everything without a VPN as mentioned earlier.
I am sure this could change but then they would probably block all VPNs anyway.
I am sure this could change but then they would probably block all VPNs anyway.
Jan 2, 2019, 5:43 pm
#11
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 139
In my experience in the last two years, the fancier the hotel in Beijing or Shanghai, the more likely the firewall will be nearly impossible to get around without a VPN. I even had problems with my *VPN* working at the Park Hyatt in Beijing this past year (never encountered that situation before). VPN worked fine (but was definitely necessary) with WiFi at some JW Marriotts.
Jan 2, 2019, 8:30 pm
#12
Join Date: Jan 2005
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Not Beijing, but we were spoiled by seemingly limitless internet at the W Suzhou in October, which left us unprepared for life without Google at the St. Regis Shanghai last week. Will need to do a little VPN research before the next visit to China...
Jan 3, 2019, 10:03 am
#13
Join Date: Mar 2017
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I have used ExpressVPN for the past 4 or 5 years in China on my iPhone and Surface tablet without any difficulties
Jan 4, 2019, 1:09 am
#14
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 139
I also use ExpressVPN on both my laptop and my cell phone and in my experience it's the best option. Go for the paid subscription if you can (I bill to work). I also have TunnelBear as a back-up VPN (it seems sometimes VPNs manage to get themselves blocked too, somehow ?!? usually around big political events) on my phone for emergencies (free account). For ExpressVPN, I usually route through Hong Kong or Los Angeles servers (they seem to work best when I am in China).
Jan 4, 2019, 3:40 am
#15
Join Date: Jul 2009
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Sheraton Guangzhou today and can't access some sites over hotel's WiFi. My Dashlane VPN won't function either. Fortunately, I have cellular data as a workaround.