China: The (Dis)Connected Country for Netizens

Travelling to China? Forget about Facebook, Twitter and Google.

When in China, you’re as restricted by the rules as a Chinese netizen. And while you may find ways to bypass these rules, how good is connectivity in the country? The answer to that is: not good at all.

During my recent visit to Shanghai, China for the Mobile World Congress, I encountered a lot of issues while trying to stay connected to the outside world.

While, at MWC 15, Shanghai mobility experts were talking about 5G connectivity, Chinese citizens were getting throttled 4G speeds.

China might be a communist country, but the economy has been quite capitalist in a controlled manner – you can find all the big brands as well as 4G connectivity. 

The first thing a netizen does as soon as they land in China is buy a SIM card with a data pack, preferably China Mobile, because it’s the best and, yes, it’s controlled by the government.

The cost of a data SIM card is about 100 Chinese Yuan (approximately Rs 1,100). Now you might want 5GB of data, but instead, you get 500MB.

And, guess what? It’s more than enough to last you a month.

Because you can’t access Facebook, Twitter and many Google Services. Even Whatsapp messenger has issues.

So, if you want to find your way in and around a city like Shanghai, forget about Google Maps.

The only way you can stay connected to your world of Facebook and Twitter is if you have a Virtual Private Network (VPN) on your smartphone. But, you really can’t rely completely on that.

The 4G speeds work like a 2G connection in India.

Also, you can also click as many pictures as you’d like for your Instagram account, but you’ll have to wait till you leave the country to post them, since that app is also blocked in China.

So What Do You Do?

If you’re willing to struggle a bit, download a VPN on your smartphone. There are plenty of free VPN apps available on both Google Play and Apple App Store. However, some will make you watch an advertisement before you are able to surf the web.

If you want to stay in touch with your friends and family, you can get on WeChat. It’s just like Whatsapp but for China.

For search, Baidu is the option for you. And if you are looking for a social network, Weibo is the answer (even Narendra Modi is on it).

These Chinese homegrown IT options are actually really fast. China-owned web solutions open up really fast, as compared to their western counterparts.

This is the method that the government in China uses to discourage users from using Western social networks and search engines – by throttling speeds.

The country is definitely connected well when it comes to their own web ecosystem but not so much for the outside world.

My biggest insight into the Chinese system is that they really know how to control people’s thought processes and make them use domestic products and services.

China’s own Swadeshi movement has worked really well in promoting it’s own services and goods. That’s why their economy boomed and they were able to effectively market their own digital goods and services across the world.

Our Prime Minister has initiated the Digital India movement but it’s a difficult proposition with 100% stronghold by Western companies. India needs to popularise its indigenous companies for social networking habits and only then will we be able to make a real Digital India.

Think about it: We are a nation of over 1 billion people. Digital India should not be a big problem for us. And we can get there without compromising net neutrality and having to throttle speeds to Western apps.