First of all, thank you for such an informative website. I rarely spend the time to complete online surveys but you have such a depth and diversity of information here that I felt I had to contribute. Both helpful and interesting information.

For internet access, you recommend proxy servers. To this end, TOR software is available for free and provides a constant register of voluntary proxy servers, with little to no input required from the user beyond installation. It provides totally private web surfing - it is just a small program that runs on Windows start-up.

Also, for private emailing, http://www.hushmail.com provides free PGP encryption. Very safe, especially if both sender and receiver use a hushmail address.

These applications, especially, TOR, I find very useful in China! If you want any more information about them, check the websites or you can post a message here.

Hi Pete,

I tried TOR and found it to be quite slow. Then again, my Internet connection to sites outside of China tends to be highly variable: sometimes it is lightening fast and, at other times, it's like I don't have Internet access at all (although sites within mainland China will be very responsive, such as Baidu.com). If your connectivity to Western sites is acceptable, then either TOR or anonymouse VIP is a good alternative.

If you find that your Internet access within mainland China is good while your connectivity to sites outside the mainland is poor, a VPN (virtual private network) is probably your best bet. Unfortunately, this is not an inexpensive solution for reliable packages: You'll have to add another $10 to $15 per month on top of whatever you are already paying.