What popular western web services don't work in mainland China?
I'm traveling to china for a couple of weeks for work. I don't do anything where information security or intellectual property is a huge concern, but I do want to be in touch with the home office so to speak and also with my family. Do major popular western web services e.g. Gmail, Skype, Dropbox work in China or does the 'great firewall' make then mostly useless?
Best Answer
Fret not, travel.stackexchange.com works just fine :D
For other services, however, currently there are over 2700 sites blocked in Mainland China.
Wikipedia maintains a list of popular sites or services blocked in mainland China. Pretty much all Google services, Yahoo, Dropbox, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and more - see the list for details.
I can confirm when I was in Beijing recently, I tried a lot of major ones on that list, and pretty much anything useful was blocked (although Bing was only partially blocked).
I resigned myself to just watching TV, and then realised my Skype was online! I tried it, and sure enough the service is active - and I was able to call New Zealand, however there are other restrictions on the service in China. I'd suggest having it preinstalled.
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Quick Answer about "What popular western web services don't work in mainland China?"
- Gmail.
- Dropbox.
- Google Apps (Drive, Docs, Calendar, Maps etc.)
- Microsoft OneDrive.
- Slack.
- Google Play (i.e. no downloading Android apps)
- Hootsuite.
What popular websites are blocked in China?
The Top 100+ websites blocked in China:- Facebook.com.
- Twitter.com.
- Instagram.com.
- Pinterest.com.
- Tumblr.com.
- Snapchat.com.
- Picasa.google.com.
- Flickr.com.
What media platforms are banned in China?
What social media platforms are blocked in China? The majority of Western social media platforms are blocked in China, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and many others. In China, there are multiple local social media platforms. The most popular one is currently WeChat.Why are most websites blocked in China?
Why are sites blocked In China? Websites are censored in China at the behest of the government and the ruling Communist Party. Any websites or apps that undermine Party rule, or have the potential to, are typically blocked.Does slack work in China?
Is Slack Blocked in China by the Chinese Government? Unfortunately, Slack is banned in China. China's government aims to limit the access of its Chinese citizens to websites, services, and content that it does not approve of, and does not deem befitting of its people.Web Services Middleware: All Grown Up!
More answers regarding what popular western web services don't work in mainland China?
Answer 2
The Wikipedia article on this subject is often incorrect. For up to date info on which sites are blocked, I suggest you look at https://en.greatfire.org/ who actually test the sites availability.
The main ones your will miss are Google (everything including Gmail and Play App store on your phone), YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, Blogspot, Wordpress, Vimo, Slideshare, WSJ, NYTimes, and most popular porn and gambling sites.
Yahoo! and Bing do work in China but are subject to censorship on some search terms. Dropbox does work if you have it installed. I use it all the time.
Good ideas if coming to China: register a Yahoo! mail account and temporarily redirect your Gmail to Yahoo!. Get used to using bing.com to search instead of Google. Entertain yourself on Youku.com instead of YouTube - China has funny cat videos too (search for ????).
If you really need to get on a blocked site, it is relatively easy to install a VPN on your computer and phone. They cost just a few dollars a month.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Pixabay, Brett Sayles, EKATERINA BOLOVTSOVA, Pixabay