Hi All,

Have been sent the following message via facebook:

Do you have any recommendations for Android apps to access Ukcaving? The website itself is blocked in China, but I wonder if there might be a sneaky way around that with a forum reader app.

Obviously, I have no blummin idea, however I though someone on here might..........

Cheers, Pegasus (aka Luddite)

Hi Pegasus,

This tool (don't know how reliable it is) states that ukcaving.co.uk is accessible in China.
guardian.co.uk and independent.co.uk are also stated to be accessible, but telegraph.co.uk and dailymail.co.uk are not !!!

http://www.greatfirewallofchina.org/index.php

tapatalk? (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.quoord.tapatalkpro.activity&hl=en_GB)

RobinGriffiths: That just checks for DNS poisoning I believe which is only one way that China uses to restrict access to sites, so it could be blocked some other way.

MarkS: I suspect this wouldn't work unfortunately, as it's exactly the same traffic just differently formatted. I know this from trying to use a similar app at a college where some forums were blocked.

I'd suggest using some kind of VPN app although I imagine that trying to get around the block is frowned upon, so having a VPN may be asking for trouble?

Be a nice challenge though. Get Ukcaving through the Great Firewall of China!
I guess you could have a surrogate website on the other side of the wall accessing UKCaving via an api at a url on this side that is not blocked.

Do they work on a whitelist or a blacklist? Not heard of DNS poisoning. Hmm, I think some research is due.

Ok, this is DNS poisoning.

http://qz.com/351281/chinas-great-firewall-is-demolishing-foreign-websites-and-nobody-knows-why/

Which is why the tool says there is no blocking, as there isn't, but it redirects to a 'safe' url.

A decent VPN should work, but not all are suitable.

I recommend Trust.zone. They have a page on the matter here: https://trust.zone/post/how_to_access_facebook_and_gmail_in_china

You can sign up to Trust.zone using Bitcoin which adds a layer of anonymity. Using a VPN in China isn't illegal but the authorities have blocked some of the better known services but I reckon if I lived there I'd like to stay off the radar.

bubba said:

A decent VPN should work, but not all are suitable.

I recommend Trust.zone. They have a page on the matter here: https://trust.zone/post/how_to_access_facebook_and_gmail_in_china

You can sign up to Trust.zone using Bitcoin which adds a layer of anonymity. Using a VPN in China isn't illegal but the authorities have blocked some of the better known services but I reckon if I lived there I'd like to stay off the radar.

Click to expand...

No idea what a VPN or Bitzone is (no need to explain, I'm past help), however will pass the info on