How to Access Facebook From China?

I have had a few requests about how I manage to acess the blocked sites in China. There are several solutions out there, so I will mention some different options, as proxys, websites allowing access often gets blocked after a while.

The Great Firewall of China is an infamous “security network” keeping mainland Chinas internett under strickt monitoring by the government. The “Golden Shield protection” as the gov wants to call it, is protecting Chinese interessts, by blocking a number of sites containing “unwanted information”. Generally this is sites such as youtube, facebook, twitter, blogging sites, social networking sites etc. that allows an easy and rapid spread of information (about chinese affairs) to a large public. To the Chinese government this poses a threat, China is under strict sensorship by the government, and the massive flow of ideas, news and contact across the borders can threaten the Chinese governments hold over the people. So China has choosen to sensor certain sites reducing the chinese peoples internett opportunities.

This of course is a huge violation of the freedom of speech, a basic human right, and is a right pain in the but for foreigners visiting China. So here is it: step by step how to get past the great Chinese Firewall!

Hotspotshield and other VPNs

My personal favorite, and the most stable and complete way to get around the blocking is using a VPN (a Viritual Private Network). This is a private network that exist on top of the main network( in this case the chinese network) using the internet to connect remote sites or users together. The original use was to allow easier connection for companies with offices and employers spread over a vast geographical distance. But a VPN can also be used to get past blocked sites in China and elsewere.

I use hotspot shield, a free VPN for windows and macs. Its been working splendedly for me, though I have heard some people have had problems. But this is defintaely worth a shot. You simply download the program and once you wish to use it you click Privacy on, and it connects you to the network, allowing you access to any site. HSS is good, but it does sometime need a few tries to connect, though it mostly works well.

There are also several other paying VPN services out there. These are built on the same principle as HSS, but can provide better stability and preformance etc. I have never used a paying VPN, so I can't recommend any, but I can mention a few: Lancom, Prosafe etc. But you should look around yourself, and see what suits your needs.

Online Proxy Connections

If you don't want to download anything there are a few online options, though these are highly ustable, and often gets blocked within weeks of emerging and will not grant you full access to the features of the sites. Youtubeproxy.com, froxyme.com, onlineproxy.net are some of these sites, but as the lifespan of these sites are short, you should look up a few possibilities (preferably before going to China, as information about them can be blocked).

I hope this article was helpful, if you have any questions just leave me a comment.