OR YOU’RE FUCKED WITHOUT A DECENT VPN. AND WATCH YOUR BACK.
I haven’t explained yet why it was so impossible to function in China without a state sanctioned guide. They have blocked practically everything you need as a solo traveller to function roaming free. I tried installing various VPN apps but none seemed to penetrate their firewall. I have copied this from VPNMENTOR for your perusal. I sadly have a Google phone so my maps and translators wouldn’t work either. Basically nothing works except Chinese home grown apps. Press is also censored to a vast degree. Basically you’re fucked if you don’t organise a VPN that works before you go.
For my old birds get yourself super organised if you want to hit China solo. You won’t have a map, a reliable translator, no social media and no Google. None of your home grown papers will be available either. You are fucked, so get it sorted and learn by this old birds hideous mistake in not making preps for this difficult place. I was going to spend three weeks travelling through this wonderful land but you just can’t do it ad hoc.
On top of this my genuine fear that I was being monitored led to an unpleasant worry that I would be stopped from leaving the country as some kind of spy or dissenter. The Intercontinental in Xi’an felt more of an embassy with me seeking refuge.
Anyhoo. Read on and realise even when all this shit dies down (if it ever does) It’s hardcore shit Communism over there with dissenters (and there are many) being “disappeared” for any bloody reason they see fit… Winnie the Poo is banned for fucks sake.
THE LONG LIST OF BANNED AND BLOCKED MEDIA (NONE OF WHICH WILL WORK AT ALL, BARE IN MIND FOR MY JOURNEY LEAVING, MY EXPEDIA WOULDN’T WORK EITHER. THE CONCIERGE AT INTERCONTINENTAL IN XI’AN COULDN’T GET ROUND IT EITHER.)
Social Websites and Apps
- Facebook.com
- Twitter.com
- Instagram.com
- Pinterest.com
- Tumblr.com
- Snapchat.com
- Picasa.google.com
- Flickr.com
- plus.google.com
- hangouts.google.com
- Hootsuite.com
- pscp.tv
- xing.com
- DeviantART.combadoo.com
- plurk.com
- twister.net.co
- badoo.com
- disqus.com
- gab.ai
- tinder.com
Blogging Websites and Platforms
- Blogger.com
- WordPress.com
- fc2.com
- urbansurvival.com
Emailing Services
- google.com/gmail/
Search Engines
- Google.com
- DuckDuckGo.com
- Baidu.com
- Yahoo.com
- startpage.com
Messaging Apps
- messenger.com
- slack.com
- whatsapp.com
- telegram.org
- line.me/en/
- kakaocorp.com/service/KakaoTalk
- signal.org
Streaming Apps and Websites
- youtube.com
- netflix.com
- vimeo.com
- dailymotion.com
- twitch.tv
- pscp.tv
- vevo.com
- pandora.com
- spotify.com
- hulu.com
- SoundCloud.com
- hbo.com
- playstation.com
- fox.com
- nbc.com
- bet365.com/en/
- eonline.com
- epix.com
- fxnetworks.com
- syfy.com
News Websites
- nytimes.com
- bbc.com
- ft.com/
- wsj.com
- bloomberg.com
- reuters.com
- independent.co.uk
- lemonde.fr
- lequipe.fr
- news.google.com
- theguardian.com
- edition.cnn.com
- liveleak.com
- theepochtimes.com
- businessinsider.com
- sponichi.co.jp
- nrk.no
- yomiuri.co.jp
Cloud Storage, Information, and Sharing
- wikipedia.org
- wikileaks.org
- google.com/drive
- google.com/docs/
- google.com/calendar
- dropbox.com
- shutterstock.com
- slideshare.net
- slack.com
- istockphoto.com
- archive.org/web/
- scribd.com
- thepiratebay.org
- isohunt.com
Others
- android.com
- medium.com
- linkedin.com
- quora.com
- github.com
- T.co
- rakuten.co.jp
- amazon.co.jp
- nicovideo.jp
- ustream.tv
- radioaustralia.net.au/chinese
- boxun.com
- lesoir.be
- ntdtv.com
- radio.garden
- sonymusic.co.jp
- allmovie.com
- amnesty.org
- radioaustralia.net.au/chinese
- rsf.org
- falundafa.org
- minghui.org
- livestation.com
- cultureunplugged.com
- twister.net.co
- vpncoupons.com
- thetibetpost.com
- radiovncr.com
- atc.org.au
- tibet.net
- mendeley.com
- thecim.org
- aba.org
- jpl.nasa.gov
- mega.nz
- instafreebie.com
- rfa.org
- time.com
- bigcommerce.com
- sportkin.com
- ndr.de
- greatfire.org
- gab.ai
- pixiv.net
- quozr.com
- spiegel.de
- agnesb.fr
- gettyimages.com
- flipboard.com
- flitto.com
- hoovers.com
- kendatire.com
- monster.com
- thebodyshop-usa.com
- download.cnet.com
I am very angry that people have blasted me for voicing an opinion, people who have never even been there. This is not about the Chinese people per se, it’s about a very dangerous regime who have been so arrogant that they refuse to be “transparent” in any way shape or form.
The only people that I had a conversation with who were not indoctrinated robots, were the group I met at the National Art Gallery in Beijing, and boy did they have a lot to say. They saw me as a way to get word out about all the secrecy and dark things happening in China and I am honouring their trust and honesty. I will be posting a separate blog for this important conversation and what I witnessed there.
As Hong Kong-based journalist James Griffiths describes in his book, The Great Firewall of China, it was a pivotal moment, “when the architects of the Great Firewall turned their attention to the rest of the world, unwilling to tolerate challenges to their dominance wherever they came from”.
Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24132210-400-chinas-great-firewall-and-the-war-to-control-the-internet/#ixzz6MtF9JgEj
OVER AND OUT…REBECCA
Old Bird Travels Solo! 