How to breach the great firewall

Now that I've got a VPN service I'm back, instead of transferring my blog to a different site I decided this would cause less of a struggle in the long run until I can find a permanent place that wont be blocked at random by the great firewall.

If you want unfiltered access to the internet from China there are several options, the cheapest one being proxy, this is best accomplished by using TOR but if you haven't downloaded it before making your landing and cant access the site, you can download the windows bundle from here and the Mac bundle from here. If you're not in China yet I suggest downloading directly from the site.

If you will be in China for a year or more I suggest using a VPN (virtual private network) this will allow you to connect to a computer outside the firewall and browse the net using their connection. WiTopia seems to be a favorite for users in China and it also holds one of the cheapest prices. Your even able to set up your iPhone for unfiltered use if you go with the basic PPTP package or the expensive multi package. Its much faster than TOR and you are able to access everything, even You Tube videos and Hulu at a descent speed.

What if you're not sure you will need it, maybe the websites you use aren't blocked but you're not in China at the moment, how do you find out? Go to http://www.greatfirewallofchina.org/ and check.

UPDATE:

Thanks to Greg for pointing out that the test site is no longer being worked on I will accept any small lists of websites that people want checked. Leave the list in a comment that way others can see whats already been asked.

UPDATE 2:

TOR is blocked just about everywhere in China now. I recently switched to a proxy service called Freedur thanks to Chengduliving.

Don't Look Now

It's another blog about life in China from a western view, but I wanted this to be more than that so my girlfriend Samantha and I are writing a jointly owned and operated blog about our life together in China that includes all the language and life lessons that come with a cross-cultural relationship, in my own quest I will bring something valuable to both Chinese and foreign readers by adding language lessons in Mandarin (pǔ tōng huà) and English lessons later on. In the future I plan to translate Samantha's posts into English and my own into Mandarin for those of you who show interest. If anyone is wondering who has the big head from our title 大 头儿与小头儿 (dā tóu er yǔ xiǎo tóu er) which translates to Big Head, Little Head You will have to keep guessing, its a closely guarded secrete.