More Great Firewall Fun

In my previous post sharing some of the recent challenges in using a VPN to get through China's Great Firewall, I mentioned that I expected to find my own situation to be much better or much worse the next morning.

At first, all seemed fine and I was able to use my VPN without much problem. However, later in the day it was almost entirely unusable. And now it seems to be OK again*. My hope is that with the ending of China's 18th National Congress on Wednesday and the unveiling of the new leadership on Thursday that VPN access will not continue to be such a challenge.

So while I have a working VPN connection, here's a photo:

Bridge crossing the Xiang River in Changsha, China

Perhaps you can find some symbolism in it. Perhaps I am just in the mood to share a photo of a bridge.

Whatever the case, I hope to return to more typical posts tomorrow assuming my Internet connection in China is back to "normal".


*Update: Of course just after publishing this, some problems with the VPN connection returned. Ah... time to sleep.

China's Great Firewall Raised Higher for a Party

As Paul Mozur noted last week:

...in recent weeks concern about the Internet has taken primacy as access to websites – especially foreign websites and virtual private networks, or VPNs, which allow users to circumvent Chinese Internet filters – has deteriorated.

The likely reason is the weeklong 18th Party Congress, a highly scripted but nevertheless critical political event scheduled to culminate with the unveiling of Communist Party’s next generation of leaders.

Chinese authorities routinely move to exert more control over the Internet around big meetings and politically sensitive dates, including by disrupting traffic to foreign websites outside the country’s censorship system, commonly referred to as the Great Firewall. But a number of users have complained of unusually frequent disruptions in the run-up to the 18th Party Congress...

See the article here for more details.

I too have had growing problems using my VPN during the past several weeks and have needed customer support from the U.S. on several occasions to resolve them. My impression is that some of the methods being used by the Great Firewall are more sophisticated than what I have experienced before.

At this moment, I can only maintain brief connections to my VPN before being disconnected. However, unlike previous times I can't rule out that there isn't a more general problem with my Internet connection. So I will apply a method that seems apt for this hour: I will go to sleep. My recent experience is that things will be either be much better or much worse when I wake up.

FYI -- without a functional VPN I am not able to post here since Blogger remains blocked in China. This and the fact that I have spent much time trying to better understand the blocking are some of the reasons I have not gotten around to several posts I had planned for this week. They're still in the pipeline though.

I will only be able to publish this post by waiting for a brief window during which I am connected to the VPN--assuming one opens again.

So far this is not working. Hopefully this can slip through on one of the tries...

More later.

A Photographic Interlude

Street scene in Changsha, China

More is on the way.

A New Google Phone in China

Google fans, are you seeking a way to better show your passion for Google? If so, then I may have seen the phone for you at a shop in Changsha, Hunan province.

Of course, the Google phone seen above runs Android--in this case OS version 2.3.7.

If you are not sold on the Android experience, though, when turning on the phone you can chose to have it simulate an iPhone-like interface instead (warning: some may now question whether you are a true Google fan).

The back of the phone's box provides more details about it, including the wide range of colors available (it also lists a slightly different OS version than what the phone itself reported).

The woman who showed me the phone was quick to say it was not made by Google. Curiously, the box did not indicate the real brand but did include the Google name in the upper-right corner.

However, booting up the phone identified the brand as Awang (A王).

Has Awang received approval from Google to use its name on the phone? I have not asked Google, but I see signs Awang has not followed some of Google's published trademark guidelines. So Google fans, maybe you might want to buy a Google wooden cricket set instead.

I don't plan to conduct an in-depth review of the phone, so just two more quick points:

• Even if Google did not grant permission for their name to be used on this phone, they can find some solace in the fact a Chinese company presumably believed that using the Google name could benefit their sales in China.
• I doubt the Google phone will be making an appearance at the "Android Store" I saw in Zhuhai, especially since all the phones being sold there were made by well-known brands. I'd say Awang has a long ways to go before reaching that stage.

More later about the other mobile phones I have seen for sale in Changsha and how they compare to what I have seen elsewhere in China (see here and here for earlier examples of mobile phones "borrowing" Apple's trademarks). And I will also soon share some thoughts about recent news relating to a more pressing concern for Google. Although Google might approve of the Chinese government blocking sales of this Awang phone, overall Google would be thrilled to see less, not more, blocking in China.

Dog Day

This sums up some of my day this Saturday:

Dog chilling out in Changsha, China

More tomorrow.

Nature Needs Civilization in China

A couple of days ago I shared a photo of a Changsha park sign which suggested:

Civilization is the most beautiful scene.

As I was looking through some photos I took in Changsha over three years ago, I was surprised to come across a related message on a sign I saw near Chuan Shipo Lake at Yuelu Mountain.

The translation seems relatively OK (compared to many other signs I have seen in China) on a word-by-word basis, although "human" could possibly be replaced with "humanity" and "needs" with "yearns for". Regardless, a sign with the word "civilization" has again left me pondering its meaning.

I fear that I could write a tome about my thoughts. So I will simply say that I would be curious to know the writer's interpretation of the message.

This Chinese phrase can be found in a least a few other places. For example, it is used as a title for an article on an Anhui province high school's website. The article describes the desire to make the school more "green". It is worth checking out just for the photos of classrooms at the high school.

And on that school note, more on college dormitories in China is on the way. In the meantime, I will leave the sign above for further pondering.

A Time of Change at Beizheng Street in Changsha

In a post about how China's nationwide stimulus for the economy may have led to an increase in forced evictions of people from their homes I wrote:

A few weeks ago in Changsha, Hunan province, I was walking through a neighborhood marked for demolition. While there I encountered a man who seemed curious about my presence. After he expressed his happiness in meeting an American, he had one parting message for me: the people who lived there received far too little compensation for their homes.

The neighborhood I mentioned can be found around Beizheng Street (北正街) which is close to a popular and rapidly developing shopping district in central Changsha. When I first visited Changsha over 3 years ago I noticed a number of similar buildings in other areas marked for demolition with a red 拆 (chāi) inside a circle. Now, it appears the preferred symbol is a red "征" (zhēng) inside a circle. 拆 roughly means "demolished" and 征 roughly means "acquisition".

Below are photos taken several weeks ago when I visited Beizheng Street and some nearby alleys. People still went about their daily lives and most buildings remained standing. But even if the red symbols seen everywhere were not direct in their meaning, signs of the change to come were obvious.

I recommend also taking a look at at the photos taken over four years ago shared in a blog post by Sheng Yong (盛勇) here. Not only by coincidence do at least two of the photos capture scenes found below, but they show the fuller life that could once be found at Beizheng Street, the street where Sheng grew up.

Thankfulness and Hope, An Election Epilogue

I am not aware of having earned the location of my birth. And I believe that humanity matters more than nationality. Nevertheless, recents days are symbolic of several reasons why I am proud to be a citizen of the United States of America.

The debate over America's next president was not always constructive. And even between friends discussions could sometimes prove frustrating. But I find it all to be a small cost for the immense benefits of free expression and democracy.

At his re-election victory celebration, President Barack Obama captured some of my feelings (full transcription here):

Democracy in a nation of 300 million can be noisy and messy and complicated. We have our own opinions. Each of us has deeply held beliefs. And when we go through tough times, when we make big decisions as a country, it necessarily stirs passions, stirs up controversy.

That won’t change after tonight, and it shouldn’t. These arguments we have are a mark of our liberty. We can never forget that as we speak people in distant nations are risking their lives right now just for a chance to argue about the issues that matter, the chance to cast their ballots like we did today.

"People in distant nations" who desire a similar liberty yet see no obvious path to obtain it might hear a message for themselves in Obama's later words for Americans:

...I ask you to sustain that hope. I’m not talking about blind optimism, the kind of hope that just ignores the enormity of the tasks ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. I’m not talking about the wishful idealism that allows us to just sit on the sidelines or shirk from a fight.

I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting.

Today I am especially thankful for what requires no hope--Americans possessing the rights to engage in debate and to choose their own leaders.

I hope Americans work better together in achieving their common goals. I hope America meets the many challenges it faces. I hope Obama plays a positive role in improving America and the world. I hope I contribute.

And I hope people all around the world who seek liberty continue to hope.

The Most Beautiful Scene

Now that the first polls are closing in the U.S., I will share a photo of a sign with a message some might believe is relevant to the election.

I saw it at Changsha's Tangerine Island Scenic Area. Signs with the word "文明" (wénmíng) are rather common in China. The word can be translated to "civilization" as in the sign above. I suspect the deeper meanings and implications of signs such as this one in China could be worthy of a dissertation or two (if someone hasn't written one already). On that note, I'd be curious to hear your own thoughts about the above message.

A Grass Field in a Chinese City

This past weekend I walked to Changsha's Tangerine Island Scenic Area. While there I saw something I hadn't seen for a long time, a field of grass.

It simply felt great. Unfortunately, I couldn't do what I had in mind.

Signs forbidding people from walking on the grass are not uncommon in city parks in China.

I'll have to wait another day to lay down outside on some grass. At least it was comforting to know the grass was smiling at me.

Wrestling in China

The other day at a drink shop in Changsha I noticed some U.S. culture was playing on the TV.

It's definitely not the first time I have seen U.S. professional wrestling being watching in China. For more, see Pete Sweeney's article on Reuters, "Chinese fans bowled over by U.S. professional wrestling".

Mickey, Minnie, and Mao in Changsha

If there is an imitation Mickey Mouse in Changsha, China...

Can I call this Minnie Mao?

On another day I saw people wearing what appeared to be the same costumes participating in a promotion for something non-Disney elsewhere in Changsha but haven't seen the costumes for several weeks after that.

By the way, this, the previous, and the next post or two will have been previously scheduled to appear while I am asleep. After I wake up in the morning in China I plan to follow the U.S. election results. I have never done that before from Mao Zedong's home province, Hunan. I am not sure whether that or the large mice in Changsha would surprise Mao more.