Last time our family sent a child to China, their recommended way of keeping in touch with the group was via WeChat. Upon investigation, this appeared to be totally unusable if you answered ‘no’ to the question ‘can this app have access to your contacts’ Which is the answer I’m always going to give to ‘how do you feel about handing the Chinese government your entire social network ‘
I don’t, on the other hand, really give a damn who reads and/or censors individual messages.
So… I’m looking for advice on my options. VPNs? I see that advised a lot online, but I’m kind of surprised that the PRC would be ok with that, since it seems that would allow you to get round the entire Great Firewall they have so painstakingly built up.
What’s the experience of current China Dopers communicating outside the country?
Facetime isn’t blocked if you have Apple devices. Skype works. VPN’s work, when they work, but the Great Firewall can detect and block them dynamically.
Giving access to your contacts list isn’t the same as giving access to your whole social network, though. And Weixin is an NGO in any case.
And POTS and cell phones work flawlessly across the borders, too.
Ah! I had read that Skype was gone from China but I see on research that it’s still fine if you have it on your phone already?
(I much prefer Zoom if I can get it - I guess I should just load everything up on her phone before she leaves…)
When we went to Taiwan a couple of years ago we never actually bothered to get local SIM cards, simply communicated over data connections (using WhatsApp, as it happens) wherever there was free WiFi. So that’s another thing I guess I don’t know - whether that’s a valid strategy in Shanghai and Beijing, or whether she really needs a local SIM of her own