China Tech Tips: Using the Internet in China and Handling Your Gadgets

Will You Have to Survive a Trip to China Without Using the Internet or Google? 

 

Doing some research for an upcoming trip to China, I am concerned about my ability to stay connected while there. Is it illegal to access the Internet in China? Is everyone prohibited from using the Internet in China, or just Chinese citizens? If the Internet is okay, is Facebook or Google forbidden? Will I be able to access all of my email accounts or just the ones that don’t have the magic word gmail as part of the address?   

Tech Concern: Will You Be Able to Use the Internet in China? 

I touch base with friends who have visited China in the recent past, an effort that does not alleviate my concern. About half say they could access their email accounts; but the other half could not. Great. As a freelance writer and editor, I am online pretty much all the time. Sure, it’s easy to dismiss concern about accessing the Internet in China with a suggestion about the joy of being unplugged, but my livelihood depends on being available to clients. I don’t see an Internet-free trip to China really working for me.  

Tech Reality: Not Exactly a Free-Range Information Superhighway 

My understanding is that the government of China manages to block access to a number of websites it has found reason to disfavor and that the government also monitors Internet users. What exactly happens to people attempting to gain access to any forbidden sites is a little unclear. I am not interested in posting anything about my China journey or any opinions about the country’s government while I am there. I just want to be able to do my regular work, which involves accessing the Internet while I am in China, so I read up on ways I might do so. 

Here’s what worked for me.  

Tech Tip #1: Using Google via VPN 

Before I depart for China, I download Express VPN on my iphone. VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. I get a free trial. I don’t understand the technological aspects of how this works, but the general gist is that using a VPN in China allows me to access all my desired websites via jurisdictions that don’t block them. This actually works for me: I am able to get onto Facebook with no problem, to use google, and, more importantly, to access and use google docs. Success! 

While on a Yangtze river cruise, I find that I frequently can only access the ship’s wireless when I am in the ship’s lobby, where I find a number of other passengers seeking to remain online. Wireless seems to drop off a lot, or users’ electrical gadgetry seems to become disconnected. In my experience, it’s a bit of a random occurrence—some of us sitting in the lobby would suddenly lose access while others would not.  It turns out that using the internet in China is more frustrating for some visitors than others. 

I do know that my fellow travelers that were not using a VPN had greater difficulty accessing their email and certain websites. The only site I had challenges accessing while I was there was Instagram. If you are headed to China, you might google the latest workarounds before you go as it seems the government at various times steps up its efforts to limit access to certain sites. 

Tech Tip #2: Communicating with Colleagues via WeChat 

For whatever reason, people in China seem to communicate via instant messaging (particularly using group messages) via WeChat rather than, say, Facebook. Again, before I depart, I download WeChat to my iphone and set up an account. If possible, try to do this before you go and also try to obtain pertinent colleagues’ user names. It helps to practice a bit before you really need it. My group ends up communicating with our tour guide via WeChat (and the app turns out to be particularly helpful for setting up a meeting point when we got separated from our guide).  

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There is a way to use WeChat as a form of mobile payment, but I am unsuccessful in my efforts to do this. It is possible one needs a credit card issued by a bank in China. I do not have one. (This might be something you want to figure out, even though I could not. Finding an ATM is not that easy in parts of China, and credit cards cannot be used as ubiquitously as they can here in the United States). 

Tech Tip #3: Download Some Translator Apps 

As one who neither speaks nor reads Mandarin or Cantonese, I will be a functional illiterate on my journey in China.  To be on the safe side, I download two translation apps for my iphone: Waygo and Translator. I use Waygo to translate images of written characters and Translator to type in English for translation to Chinese.

Translator works well for me; I can show my phone so that someone can read the translation, or I can also press a speaker button so that the translation will be spoken. Translator can also translate spoken words and capture images to translate. More adept users can set up multiple-party conversations using Translator. I am happy just typing in my communications and then letting someone read my phone screen.  

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Translation apps provide a bit of reassurance to me about how I would handle becoming lost or separated from my group. Having the app, using it effectively, and maintaining a charged-up cellphone provided a fair amount of peace of mind on my journey. Traveling to Chongqing and taking a Yangtze river cruise, I was surprised by how many people did not speak English. I was glad to have a plan in place to communicate with people had I found myself on my own at some point. 

Tech Tip #4: Bring an Adapter  

The electronics accompanying me on my visit to China are my Surface notebook computer and my iphone. I bring along a Lenmar adapter because electrical outlets in China are not the same as those in the United States.  

I can charge my iphone on the notebook computer as needed. 

Tech Tip #5: Bring a Portable Charger 

As backup for my iphone (I use up a lot of battery power taking photographs and videos), I bring along a portable power bank that I can stash in my purse (and also recharge on my notebook computer as needed). Be sure to check your airline’s rules on the type of power banks it allows and requirements for their storage (your airline may prohibit their storage in checked luggage). 

Tech Tip#6: Plan How You Will Use Your Smartphone 

For my iphone, I use Verizon Wireless TravelPass which lets me talk, text, and use data while I am in China. I have no problem texting colleagues, friends, and family in the United States with my phone. I also am able to accept and make calls from and to the United States. The people I am in contact with in China tell me it is easier to communicate in China using WhatsApp than to make a phone call from a U.S. phone number to a Chinese one. I choose to trust the general wisdom on this point. 

Tech Tip #7: Create a Backup Plan Beforehand 

If you must be in touch digitally while you are in China, have a backup plan in case you are not able to access the Internet or send emails via the electronic gear you bring along. Will you need to stay in hotels that have business centers? 

—Lori Tripoli 

Full disclosure: The author’s journey to China was sponsored by Ctrip. 

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Are you preparing for a trip to China? You might like these posts: 

• 7 Chongqing Travel Tips
• Is a Yangtze River Cruise Worthwhile?
• Gifts for Travelers 2019 
• Getting Going
• Mixing Pleasure with Business
• Navigating as a Functional Illiterate

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Have you visited China recently? What tech tips for China can you share?