Noisebridge - User contributions [en]

HTTC Internet Tips

2018-10-29T03:29:48Z

Noah: /* VPN, Internet, Blocked Websites, and SIM cards for your phone */

<pre style="color: black; font-size:xx-large;">
Guide to Chinese Internet & Phones,
       Translation, Navigation,
       Recommended Phone Apps, and
       What to Do Before Getting to China
</pre>

'''''This is useful info for people who want to travel in China''''' 
''It was created for people traveling on the [[NoisebridgeChinaTrip7|Hacker Trip To China]] in 2017, and has been updated for the [[NoisebridgeChinaTrip8|2018 edition]]''

= VPN, Internet, Blocked Websites, and SIM cards for your phone =

'''The Great Firewall of China''' 

As most people know, China censors its internet. The equipment that blocks some internet, and lets other internet through, is called a “Firewall”. There are ways around this, so that people in China (such as you!) can use any website that you like on your phone or laptop.

Q: '''What is VPN?'''

:“VPN” is a means of securely connecting to other computers. It can be used to get around “The Great Firewall”.

Q: I have 10 proxies, 4 VPNs and Tor. Do I need this guide?
:Yes: there are times where the international pipes are just too damn clogged! Relying on something overseas during those times may not help you.

:To give you a sense of the scale of the problem, tested from a random cafe in Beijing, connected to a 802.11AC network with good signal:

:Speedtest.net to Beijing server gives 3ms/93.9Mbps(down)/18.2Mbps(up).
:Speedtest.net to US gives 224ms/1.14Mbps(down)/3.4Mbps(up).

:It's not just about finding a VPN technology, it's about finding a location with good throughput.

:Also, Tor is blocked and China has an army of computer science graduates coming up with automated scripts to block your VPNs. Think about this before you assume it's not blocked.

Q. Do I need a SIM card / mobile internet for my phone on this trip? Can’t I use wifi?

:I’m glad you asked. It is true that public wifi is available throughout China. However, it usually (not always) requires mainland phone number SMS identification. It is likely that you will have Internet at your hotel but may find it hard to get connected to wifi out and about. Also, for a group of this size, you need to be able to follow developments on the group WeChat and have access to GPS maps, or you will get left behind/lost very early!

Q: What doesn't work in China?

:Gmail. YouTube. Dropbox. Google Search. Facebook. Line. Twitter. Facebook messenger, Whatsapp, many news sites.
:Don't save your VPN passwords and flight details solely in Gmail or Dropbox.

Q: What does work in China that might surprise me?
:• Most Microsoft services, including Skype and Bing. Bing is your only option for English search. Skype is a great option for calls, China's mobile network is pretty high performance.
:• Teamviewer
:• Most Apple services work. Apple maps / iMessage works fine, App Store works and has local servers now. Apple News is blocked, even with a VPN, and iCloud services will work.

Q. Are there any tricks that will get me uncensored internet 100% of the time?
:Yes! The big workaround is to get a roaming SIM card, because all SIM data traffic is tunneled to your country of origin, and you can browse websites like you are back home.

Q. Oh, you mean like Google Fi or my carrier's roaming packs?
:Google Fi is one option, but it’s important to realize that it may not be the fastest/cheapest. For a start to remain competitive they have to negotiate the cheapest deal possible in each country, so you may end up on a throttled data connection instead of a premium service. :Also, because all traffic is routed back to your provider, your latency may be very high, possibly interfering with using services such as Skype and WeChat voice calls.

Q. What are better options?
:The better option is to get a SIM card in Hong Kong that is owned by a mainland telecom provider, which routes traffic back to Hong Kong over their carrier owned (hopefully congestion free) pipes. Two such examples are China Unicom and China Mobile. Make sure you are getting a ''roaming to China'' SIM and not a Hong Kong ''ONLY'' sim.

:More reading: https://www.larrysalibra.com/hop-over-the-great-firewall-with-government-help/

:There are also other "travel SIMs" that have been tailored for use in China. If it is marketed toward China specifically, then it is probably a good option. One example is the AIS Sim2Fly, but be aware that it may require in person identification in Thailand(!) to use. http://www.ais.co.th/roaming/sim2fly/landing_china.html

Q. Will any SIM work in my phone?
:Not always. China has historically deployed different radio spectra to other countries (different even from Hong Kong, so just because your phone works when you arrive doesn’t mean it will work in China). In recent times, the situation has gotten better, with iPhone 6 and above and many android phones supporting LTE bands on China Mobile, and China Unicom also supports a wide range of bands (but gives worse service/value than China Mobile).

:Please also check if your phone is unlocked by your carrier, as it is common for many phones sold under contract to be tied to a provider. Often if you call them before you leave for China they will unlock it for you for free.

Q. How do I tell which SIM card to get?
:If your phone supports TDD-LTE, get China Mobile, else get China Unicom.
:1. Find out the model number of your phone eg "iPhone 6S: Model A1688"
:2. Google "A1688 bands” to find out what it supports
:3. If your phone supports (TD-LTE) Bands: 38, 39, 40, 41, you are good to go with China Mobile!
:4. Else, get China Unicom.
:For more information see: http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/China

Q. Can you help me buy a SIM card?
:Unfortunently not. We are entering through Beijing, and thus can't buy SIM cards from HK.

Q. What are the SIM cards that you recommend specifically? How much do they cost?
:If your phone supports TDD-LTE,
:China Mobile “CMHK 4G/3G Individual traveller Prepaid SIM Card"
:It costs $68HKD($8.69 US) for the SIM, and $168 HKD ($21.48 USD) for each 2GB data pack.
:''Make sure it matches the picture below'': it is likely that the cashier will get confused and try to sell you a HK-only local sim instead!

:http://www.hk.chinamobile.com/en/corporate_information/Prepaid_SIM/inbound_tourists/4G3Gprepaid-services-individual.html

:Before you leave HK and enter China, recharge it online using this website: https://1cm.hk.chinamobile.com/bill/prepaid-refill.html?lang=en and activate a 2GB China & Hong Kong Data Package for $168 HKD.

"If your phone doesn’t support TDD-LTE, or you’re just not sure, you can get the China Unicom Cross Border King
"https://www.cuniq.com/hk_en/data-card/great-china/cross-border-king-hkno.html
"Sim Costs $138 HKD ($17.64 USD)
"Data packages are $118 HKD ($15.09 USD) / 1 GB.

[[File:HK_SIM.jpg|400px]]
 

Q. Where to look for these two cards?
:7/11, Circle K 👌 and market stalls selling SIM cards. ''Make sure the photo matches and you are not being given a HK-only-SIM!''

Q: What about getting a local (Chinese Mainland) SIM Card:
:Yes, you can do that. but everything will be blocked, and you will need real name registration with your passport and possibly a few hours to set it up. The first time I tried to do this, I thought I was getting prepaid but accidentally signed up for a 24 month plan.. and now I can’t get another due to leaving the country and not making payments. 🤦‍♂️ I don’t recommend this option.

= Translation tips =

Q: How can I translate and talk to Chinese people?

There are several good options:
:1. Google Translate: but it only works if you have a VPN and or have downloaded the offline pack beforehand. If you are translating offline, the quality of translation may be much less. Does however have an extremely nifty live translate options, that works offline and is completely indispensable for translating restaurant menus!
:2. Bing Translate: Works in china, and automatically translates text from screenshots. Also has a Safari plugin that can translate websites.
:3. Baidu Translate: Chinese native translation app. Great for second-checking Google/Bing translate when you are confused. Has a great AI / machine learning team and actually rolled out machine learning translate before Google did.
:4. WeChat: You can translate conversations while you are chatting to people. A lot of Chinese know this, and will ask for your WeChat right away so they can talk to you.
:5. Chinese Keyboards: If possible, install Chinese keyboards/input methods on your phone. This is so a Chinese person can type their part of the conversation using your phone. You may need a few because everyone has their own preference, e.g. pinyin, stroke, and handwriting. For Android, download the "Google Pinyin Input" app -- this has several Chinese keyboards in one. For iOS, you can enable "Chinese - Simplified Handwriting", "Chinese - Simplified Pinyin", and "Chinese - Simplified Stroke" on your phone.

Q: I want to buy a banana in China, but I don’t speak any Chinese, how can I buy a banana?

Here is a picture of a Banana. Now you can show this picture and very soon you will have your very own banana. Seriously, Bing Images speaks 1000 Chinese words. You can use text translate all day, but a picture of the thing you want will always get faster results.

[[File:Bananas.png|200px]]
 

Q: Wait Bing images?

Yes, remember Google is blocked 🙃

= Navigation tips =

Know the subway exit closest to your accommodation. Have someone write it down for you in Chinese to show a taxi driver or subway staff. Also, get your hotel to write down in Chinese the name of the building and address and phone number, so you can show to a taxi driver.

Q: My VPN works fine 😀 Can I rely on Google Maps?

Google Maps in China offsets GPS locations by a random amount. Even with a VPN. You will get very lost using it. Also, the maps haven't been updated much since Google left China years ago. The directions they give you may or may not be correct, but the blue dot WILL be wrong.

Q. What about Apple Maps? Openstreetmaps?

Both of these work although may not be that detailed. Apple Maps has public transport directions (in English!) for some cities.

Q: How to get up to date public transport/walking directions?

Use Baidu Maps.

Q: Wait I downloaded Baidu Maps and it's all in Chinese. WTF?

Welcome to China. A tip I recommend is to take a screenshot and then use Microsoft Translator to understand what the functions are. But if you've used mapping apps before most of functions are the same. I recommend copy and pasting the Chinese address, or getting a Chinese person to type it in for you. For this you may need a few Chinese keyboards, as each person has their own preference of keyboard type.

Baidu Maps also has excellent public transport directions, including subway and buses. It takes a bit of back and forward between Bing Translate to understand what to do, see example screenshot below.

[[File:BaiduMapExample_composite.png|500px]]
 

Q: Why install a Chinese app? It's all too confusing.

So Chinese people can help you. So you can get up to date public transport. So you can navigate there in augmented reality mode. (really)... so you can hire bicycles to get you there... so you can save the whole map offline.

Q: Got any tips to save me battery / SIM Card data?
:1. Buy a powerbank. Almost easier to find than food in China.
:2. Because some services will be blocked, your phone might waste a lot of time trying to connect to things and fail. If it’s sensible, it will give up and not constantly retry. but if you get battery drain you can try turning off any push email and background app refresh for blocked services e.g. Facebook / Google Apps.
:3. Make sure you don’t have things like Camera Roll upload to Dropbox turned on for Cellular data!

Q: This is really weird. So what services do Chinese people use?

I’m glad you asked 😀. The Chinese Internet industry is flourishing, and Chinese use a wide range of locally developed apps.

I recommend checking out a top 100 list of apps such as the iTunes China App store rankings, but here are some examples: 
:Netease/Baidu/Kogou - like Spotify
:Alipay - Like Paypal, but can be used in real life to pay for anything including Metro tickets.
:Kwai - Funny videos
:didi - Like Uber, and available in English!
:iQiyi - Like Netflix
:Mobike - Share bikes
:Meitu - Beauty app, with live video transformations
:Dianping - Like foursquare/yelp, only been around longer and more organised.
:Bilibili / Youku - Social video platforms
:Taobao / Tmall / JD - Ebay, Amazon, etc
:Baidu Pan - Like Dropbox, only they give you 2TB for free..
:Baidu Maps / Amap - Like Google maps, but still has fierce competition for features.

= Which VPN should I use? =

Astrill has a long history of working in China.. why that is? 🤔 Well.. One could only speculate. You should set your expectation for any VPN service low, and not expect it to work at all times of the day. Make sure you buy it before you arrive in the mainland, and save the server list/app on your device.

I also use Lantern as a backup https://getlantern.org and I’ve heard good things about ExpressVPN.

= Before you come to China =

Get a VPN Account (eg, Astrill, ExpressVPN or Lantern)

Download Apps:
WeChat (Chat)
Baidu Maps (Public transport directions)
Bing Translate
Baidu Translate
Skype (cheap landline or Internet calls back home, not blocked by firewall)
Google Translate (English —> Chinese) && (Chinese —> English) Offline translation pack
For Android, install Google Pinyin Input
For iPhone, enable Chinese keyboards/input methods (eg at least pinyin / handwriting / stroke),    which you can do this in your phone language settings.

== Tell your bank before you leave that you are travelling to China ==
If you rely on your local phone number for SMS 2FA (Banking, iCloud, Finance, etc), then either

== Tell your phone provider you are travelling to China ==
Get them to turn on international roaming and bring a spare phone with your SIM. 
       OR
Get the 2FA codes disabled while you are in China. 
Turn OFF data roaming before you arrive, unless you are only using a local SIM in your phone.
Be aware of which of your bank cards are going to charge you an international transaction fee and/or a ATM withdrawal fee. (Charles Schwab charges neither) If you can’t avoid fees, then make sure you do big ATM cash withdrawals each time to reduce ATM fees.

== I'm too busy, can't I just get it all when I get to China? ==

Yes, but..
:• Google Play Store is completely blocked in China. So either you will be downloading apps at a very slow speed over a VPN or downloading random .apks from untrusted sources
:• iPhones are easier, but hotel wifi is universally shitty and you will still be lost the first few days before you install everything
:• Banks and phone companies might not want to talk to you once you leave the country.

== Data usage tips ==

Tips to reduce the amount of mobile data your phone uses:

Turn off any automated uploading of photos (on mobile data)
:• Dropbox
:• iCloud Photo Library (turn off unlimited updates, and Mobile Data)
:• Google Photos

Turn off background updating of apps
:• On iOS, set Background App Refresh to "Wifi"
:• If you use podcasting apps, make sure they only update on Wifi.
:• iCloud Drive / Google Drive

Caching data offline
:• Baidu Maps has an offline cached map available for every city. You can choose each city in the settings. It's an incredible detailed map and strongly recommended, even if it is in chinese.
:• Google Translate has offline translate packs, that are needed for real-time translate.
:• On Mac, there is a utility called Tripmode, which will allow you to disable apps when connected to tethered data. https://www.tripmode.ch

== Going down internet rabbit holes... ==

Q: China is gonna pwn my phone and spy on me. I'm scared 😰

Yep, could happen. Also, the NSA is already spying on you (PRISM). And the UK (Tempura). And Canada.. and Australia..(Five Eyes). and Russia.. and who knows who else.

So set your paranoia level accordingly. You want to come with a fresh phone? Go right ahead. But just remember that the internet is global, you can get hacked in any country, and most of your phones parts probably originated in China anyway…
Don’t be so scared that you spend your whole trip lost using a feature phone..

Sensible preparations include making sure you are running the latest version of your OS and apps, and having backups of everything you take with you. Changing passwords regularly or after your trip is also a sensible thing to do.

Q: I don’t trust Astrill, I wanna set up my own VPN.-

Straight OpenVPN is likely to get blocked after working for a few minutes, OpenVPN with obfsproxy less so, and any protocols that big businesses use are more likely to work, eg PPTP / Cisco Anyconnect / L2TP.
Also worth looking at projects that script an install for you onto a VPS, such as https://github.com/madbuda/brasscrow

Running a public Tor on your server at home will get the entire IP blocked the first time you use it.

Q. Can I just use SSH tunnels? Surely China won’t block SSH..

You can use SSH interactively, but when you start to transfer data through it, the packet loss goes through the roof until you restart the session. See for example: http://blog.zorinaq.com/my-experience-with-the-great-firewall-of-china/

Q: My VPN stopped working and now my internet is really slow.. Are they on to me? 😬

It’s probably just slow for everyone. VPNs aren’t illegal in China, but they do have automated processes for blocking them. Just because they blocked your server doesn’t mean they are targeting you.

Q. Can I use Teamviewer?

Yes….

Q. Can I watch Netflix?

Not unless you are really lucky. Streaming speeds are really bad over VPNs.

HTTC Internet Tips

2018-10-29T03:29:18Z

Noah: formatting

<pre style="color: black; font-size:xx-large;">
Guide to Chinese Internet & Phones,
       Translation, Navigation,
       Recommended Phone Apps, and
       What to Do Before Getting to China
</pre>

'''''This is useful info for people who want to travel in China''''' 
''It was created for people traveling on the [[NoisebridgeChinaTrip7|Hacker Trip To China]] in 2017, and has been updated for the [[NoisebridgeChinaTrip8|2018 edition]]''

= VPN, Internet, Blocked Websites, and SIM cards for your phone =

'''The Great Firewall of China''' 

As most people know, China censors its internet. The equipment that blocks some internet, and lets other internet through, is called a “Firewall”. There are ways around this, so that people in China (such as you!) can use any website that you like on your phone or laptop.

Q: '''What is VPN?'''

“VPN” is a means of securely connecting to other computers. It can be used to get around “The Great Firewall”.

Q: I have 10 proxies, 4 VPNs and Tor. Do I need this guide?
:Yes: there are times where the international pipes are just too damn clogged! Relying on something overseas during those times may not help you.

:To give you a sense of the scale of the problem, tested from a random cafe in Beijing, connected to a 802.11AC network with good signal:

:Speedtest.net to Beijing server gives 3ms/93.9Mbps(down)/18.2Mbps(up).
:Speedtest.net to US gives 224ms/1.14Mbps(down)/3.4Mbps(up).

:It's not just about finding a VPN technology, it's about finding a location with good throughput.

:Also, Tor is blocked and China has an army of computer science graduates coming up with automated scripts to block your VPNs. Think about this before you assume it's not blocked.

Q. Do I need a SIM card / mobile internet for my phone on this trip? Can’t I use wifi?

:I’m glad you asked. It is true that public wifi is available throughout China. However, it usually (not always) requires mainland phone number SMS identification. It is likely that you will have Internet at your hotel but may find it hard to get connected to wifi out and about. Also, for a group of this size, you need to be able to follow developments on the group WeChat and have access to GPS maps, or you will get left behind/lost very early!

Q: What doesn't work in China?

:Gmail. YouTube. Dropbox. Google Search. Facebook. Line. Twitter. Facebook messenger, Whatsapp, many news sites.
:Don't save your VPN passwords and flight details solely in Gmail or Dropbox.

Q: What does work in China that might surprise me?
:• Most Microsoft services, including Skype and Bing. Bing is your only option for English search. Skype is a great option for calls, China's mobile network is pretty high performance.
:• Teamviewer
:• Most Apple services work. Apple maps / iMessage works fine, App Store works and has local servers now. Apple News is blocked, even with a VPN, and iCloud services will work.

Q. Are there any tricks that will get me uncensored internet 100% of the time?
:Yes! The big workaround is to get a roaming SIM card, because all SIM data traffic is tunneled to your country of origin, and you can browse websites like you are back home.

Q. Oh, you mean like Google Fi or my carrier's roaming packs?
:Google Fi is one option, but it’s important to realize that it may not be the fastest/cheapest. For a start to remain competitive they have to negotiate the cheapest deal possible in each country, so you may end up on a throttled data connection instead of a premium service. :Also, because all traffic is routed back to your provider, your latency may be very high, possibly interfering with using services such as Skype and WeChat voice calls.

Q. What are better options?
:The better option is to get a SIM card in Hong Kong that is owned by a mainland telecom provider, which routes traffic back to Hong Kong over their carrier owned (hopefully congestion free) pipes. Two such examples are China Unicom and China Mobile. Make sure you are getting a ''roaming to China'' SIM and not a Hong Kong ''ONLY'' sim.

:More reading: https://www.larrysalibra.com/hop-over-the-great-firewall-with-government-help/

:There are also other "travel SIMs" that have been tailored for use in China. If it is marketed toward China specifically, then it is probably a good option. One example is the AIS Sim2Fly, but be aware that it may require in person identification in Thailand(!) to use. http://www.ais.co.th/roaming/sim2fly/landing_china.html

Q. Will any SIM work in my phone?
:Not always. China has historically deployed different radio spectra to other countries (different even from Hong Kong, so just because your phone works when you arrive doesn’t mean it will work in China). In recent times, the situation has gotten better, with iPhone 6 and above and many android phones supporting LTE bands on China Mobile, and China Unicom also supports a wide range of bands (but gives worse service/value than China Mobile).

:Please also check if your phone is unlocked by your carrier, as it is common for many phones sold under contract to be tied to a provider. Often if you call them before you leave for China they will unlock it for you for free.

Q. How do I tell which SIM card to get?
:If your phone supports TDD-LTE, get China Mobile, else get China Unicom.
:1. Find out the model number of your phone eg "iPhone 6S: Model A1688"
:2. Google "A1688 bands” to find out what it supports
:3. If your phone supports (TD-LTE) Bands: 38, 39, 40, 41, you are good to go with China Mobile!
:4. Else, get China Unicom.
:For more information see: http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/China

Q. Can you help me buy a SIM card?
:Unfortunently not. We are entering through Beijing, and thus can't buy SIM cards from HK.

Q. What are the SIM cards that you recommend specifically? How much do they cost?
:If your phone supports TDD-LTE,
:China Mobile “CMHK 4G/3G Individual traveller Prepaid SIM Card"
:It costs $68HKD($8.69 US) for the SIM, and $168 HKD ($21.48 USD) for each 2GB data pack.
:''Make sure it matches the picture below'': it is likely that the cashier will get confused and try to sell you a HK-only local sim instead!

:http://www.hk.chinamobile.com/en/corporate_information/Prepaid_SIM/inbound_tourists/4G3Gprepaid-services-individual.html

:Before you leave HK and enter China, recharge it online using this website: https://1cm.hk.chinamobile.com/bill/prepaid-refill.html?lang=en and activate a 2GB China & Hong Kong Data Package for $168 HKD.

"If your phone doesn’t support TDD-LTE, or you’re just not sure, you can get the China Unicom Cross Border King
"https://www.cuniq.com/hk_en/data-card/great-china/cross-border-king-hkno.html
"Sim Costs $138 HKD ($17.64 USD)
"Data packages are $118 HKD ($15.09 USD) / 1 GB.

[[File:HK_SIM.jpg|400px]]
 

Q. Where to look for these two cards?
:7/11, Circle K 👌 and market stalls selling SIM cards. ''Make sure the photo matches and you are not being given a HK-only-SIM!''

Q: What about getting a local (Chinese Mainland) SIM Card:
:Yes, you can do that. but everything will be blocked, and you will need real name registration with your passport and possibly a few hours to set it up. The first time I tried to do this, I thought I was getting prepaid but accidentally signed up for a 24 month plan.. and now I can’t get another due to leaving the country and not making payments. 🤦‍♂️ I don’t recommend this option.

= Translation tips =

Q: How can I translate and talk to Chinese people?

There are several good options:
:1. Google Translate: but it only works if you have a VPN and or have downloaded the offline pack beforehand. If you are translating offline, the quality of translation may be much less. Does however have an extremely nifty live translate options, that works offline and is completely indispensable for translating restaurant menus!
:2. Bing Translate: Works in china, and automatically translates text from screenshots. Also has a Safari plugin that can translate websites.
:3. Baidu Translate: Chinese native translation app. Great for second-checking Google/Bing translate when you are confused. Has a great AI / machine learning team and actually rolled out machine learning translate before Google did.
:4. WeChat: You can translate conversations while you are chatting to people. A lot of Chinese know this, and will ask for your WeChat right away so they can talk to you.
:5. Chinese Keyboards: If possible, install Chinese keyboards/input methods on your phone. This is so a Chinese person can type their part of the conversation using your phone. You may need a few because everyone has their own preference, e.g. pinyin, stroke, and handwriting. For Android, download the "Google Pinyin Input" app -- this has several Chinese keyboards in one. For iOS, you can enable "Chinese - Simplified Handwriting", "Chinese - Simplified Pinyin", and "Chinese - Simplified Stroke" on your phone.

Q: I want to buy a banana in China, but I don’t speak any Chinese, how can I buy a banana?

Here is a picture of a Banana. Now you can show this picture and very soon you will have your very own banana. Seriously, Bing Images speaks 1000 Chinese words. You can use text translate all day, but a picture of the thing you want will always get faster results.

[[File:Bananas.png|200px]]
 

Q: Wait Bing images?

Yes, remember Google is blocked 🙃

= Navigation tips =

Know the subway exit closest to your accommodation. Have someone write it down for you in Chinese to show a taxi driver or subway staff. Also, get your hotel to write down in Chinese the name of the building and address and phone number, so you can show to a taxi driver.

Q: My VPN works fine 😀 Can I rely on Google Maps?

Google Maps in China offsets GPS locations by a random amount. Even with a VPN. You will get very lost using it. Also, the maps haven't been updated much since Google left China years ago. The directions they give you may or may not be correct, but the blue dot WILL be wrong.

Q. What about Apple Maps? Openstreetmaps?

Both of these work although may not be that detailed. Apple Maps has public transport directions (in English!) for some cities.

Q: How to get up to date public transport/walking directions?

Use Baidu Maps.

Q: Wait I downloaded Baidu Maps and it's all in Chinese. WTF?

Welcome to China. A tip I recommend is to take a screenshot and then use Microsoft Translator to understand what the functions are. But if you've used mapping apps before most of functions are the same. I recommend copy and pasting the Chinese address, or getting a Chinese person to type it in for you. For this you may need a few Chinese keyboards, as each person has their own preference of keyboard type.

Baidu Maps also has excellent public transport directions, including subway and buses. It takes a bit of back and forward between Bing Translate to understand what to do, see example screenshot below.

[[File:BaiduMapExample_composite.png|500px]]
 

Q: Why install a Chinese app? It's all too confusing.

So Chinese people can help you. So you can get up to date public transport. So you can navigate there in augmented reality mode. (really)... so you can hire bicycles to get you there... so you can save the whole map offline.

Q: Got any tips to save me battery / SIM Card data?
:1. Buy a powerbank. Almost easier to find than food in China.
:2. Because some services will be blocked, your phone might waste a lot of time trying to connect to things and fail. If it’s sensible, it will give up and not constantly retry. but if you get battery drain you can try turning off any push email and background app refresh for blocked services e.g. Facebook / Google Apps.
:3. Make sure you don’t have things like Camera Roll upload to Dropbox turned on for Cellular data!

Q: This is really weird. So what services do Chinese people use?

I’m glad you asked 😀. The Chinese Internet industry is flourishing, and Chinese use a wide range of locally developed apps.

I recommend checking out a top 100 list of apps such as the iTunes China App store rankings, but here are some examples: 
:Netease/Baidu/Kogou - like Spotify
:Alipay - Like Paypal, but can be used in real life to pay for anything including Metro tickets.
:Kwai - Funny videos
:didi - Like Uber, and available in English!
:iQiyi - Like Netflix
:Mobike - Share bikes
:Meitu - Beauty app, with live video transformations
:Dianping - Like foursquare/yelp, only been around longer and more organised.
:Bilibili / Youku - Social video platforms
:Taobao / Tmall / JD - Ebay, Amazon, etc
:Baidu Pan - Like Dropbox, only they give you 2TB for free..
:Baidu Maps / Amap - Like Google maps, but still has fierce competition for features.

= Which VPN should I use? =

Astrill has a long history of working in China.. why that is? 🤔 Well.. One could only speculate. You should set your expectation for any VPN service low, and not expect it to work at all times of the day. Make sure you buy it before you arrive in the mainland, and save the server list/app on your device.

I also use Lantern as a backup https://getlantern.org and I’ve heard good things about ExpressVPN.

= Before you come to China =

Get a VPN Account (eg, Astrill, ExpressVPN or Lantern)

Download Apps:
WeChat (Chat)
Baidu Maps (Public transport directions)
Bing Translate
Baidu Translate
Skype (cheap landline or Internet calls back home, not blocked by firewall)
Google Translate (English —> Chinese) && (Chinese —> English) Offline translation pack
For Android, install Google Pinyin Input
For iPhone, enable Chinese keyboards/input methods (eg at least pinyin / handwriting / stroke),    which you can do this in your phone language settings.

== Tell your bank before you leave that you are travelling to China ==
If you rely on your local phone number for SMS 2FA (Banking, iCloud, Finance, etc), then either

== Tell your phone provider you are travelling to China ==
Get them to turn on international roaming and bring a spare phone with your SIM. 
       OR
Get the 2FA codes disabled while you are in China. 
Turn OFF data roaming before you arrive, unless you are only using a local SIM in your phone.
Be aware of which of your bank cards are going to charge you an international transaction fee and/or a ATM withdrawal fee. (Charles Schwab charges neither) If you can’t avoid fees, then make sure you do big ATM cash withdrawals each time to reduce ATM fees.

== I'm too busy, can't I just get it all when I get to China? ==

Yes, but..
:• Google Play Store is completely blocked in China. So either you will be downloading apps at a very slow speed over a VPN or downloading random .apks from untrusted sources
:• iPhones are easier, but hotel wifi is universally shitty and you will still be lost the first few days before you install everything
:• Banks and phone companies might not want to talk to you once you leave the country.

== Data usage tips ==

Tips to reduce the amount of mobile data your phone uses:

Turn off any automated uploading of photos (on mobile data)
:• Dropbox
:• iCloud Photo Library (turn off unlimited updates, and Mobile Data)
:• Google Photos

Turn off background updating of apps
:• On iOS, set Background App Refresh to "Wifi"
:• If you use podcasting apps, make sure they only update on Wifi.
:• iCloud Drive / Google Drive

Caching data offline
:• Baidu Maps has an offline cached map available for every city. You can choose each city in the settings. It's an incredible detailed map and strongly recommended, even if it is in chinese.
:• Google Translate has offline translate packs, that are needed for real-time translate.
:• On Mac, there is a utility called Tripmode, which will allow you to disable apps when connected to tethered data. https://www.tripmode.ch

== Going down internet rabbit holes... ==

Q: China is gonna pwn my phone and spy on me. I'm scared 😰

Yep, could happen. Also, the NSA is already spying on you (PRISM). And the UK (Tempura). And Canada.. and Australia..(Five Eyes). and Russia.. and who knows who else.

So set your paranoia level accordingly. You want to come with a fresh phone? Go right ahead. But just remember that the internet is global, you can get hacked in any country, and most of your phones parts probably originated in China anyway…
Don’t be so scared that you spend your whole trip lost using a feature phone..

Sensible preparations include making sure you are running the latest version of your OS and apps, and having backups of everything you take with you. Changing passwords regularly or after your trip is also a sensible thing to do.

Q: I don’t trust Astrill, I wanna set up my own VPN.-

Straight OpenVPN is likely to get blocked after working for a few minutes, OpenVPN with obfsproxy less so, and any protocols that big businesses use are more likely to work, eg PPTP / Cisco Anyconnect / L2TP.
Also worth looking at projects that script an install for you onto a VPS, such as https://github.com/madbuda/brasscrow

Running a public Tor on your server at home will get the entire IP blocked the first time you use it.

Q. Can I just use SSH tunnels? Surely China won’t block SSH..

You can use SSH interactively, but when you start to transfer data through it, the packet loss goes through the roof until you restart the session. See for example: http://blog.zorinaq.com/my-experience-with-the-great-firewall-of-china/

Q: My VPN stopped working and now my internet is really slow.. Are they on to me? 😬

It’s probably just slow for everyone. VPNs aren’t illegal in China, but they do have automated processes for blocking them. Just because they blocked your server doesn’t mean they are targeting you.

Q. Can I use Teamviewer?

Yes….

Q. Can I watch Netflix?

Not unless you are really lucky. Streaming speeds are really bad over VPNs.

HTTC Internet Tips

2018-10-29T03:17:53Z

Noah: /* Data usage tips */

<pre style="color: black; font-size:xx-large;">
Guide to Chinese Internet & Phones,
       Translation, Navigation,
       Recommended Phone Apps, and
       What to Do Before Getting to China
</pre>

'''''This is useful info for people who want to travel in China''''' 
''It was created for people traveling on the [[NoisebridgeChinaTrip7|Hacker Trip To China]] in 2017, and has been updated for the [[NoisebridgeChinaTrip8|2018 edition]]''

= VPN, Internet, Blocked Websites, and SIM cards for your phone =

'''The Great Firewall of China''' 

As most people know, China censors its internet. The equipment that blocks some internet, and lets other internet through, is called a “Firewall”. There are ways around this, so that people in China (such as you!) can use any website that you like on your phone or laptop.

'''What is VPN?''' 

“VPN” is a means of securely connecting to other computers. It can be used to get around “The Great Firewall”.
 

Q: I have 10 proxies, 4 VPNs and Tor. Do I need this guide?

Yes: because there are times (anecdotally between 4pm and 11:30pm some days) where the international pipes are just too damn clogged! Relying on something overseas during those times ''may not help you.''

To give you a sense of the scale of the problem, tested from a random cafe in Beijing, connected to a 802.11AC network with good signal:

Speedtest.net to Beijing server gives 3ms/93.9Mbps(down)/18.2Mbps(up).
Speedtest.net to US gives 224ms/1.14Mbps(down)/3.4Mbps(up).

It's not just about finding a VPN technology, it's about finding a location with good throughput.

Also, Tor is blocked and China has an army of computer science graduates coming up with automated scripts to block your VPNs. Think about this before you assume it's not blocked.

Q. Do I need a SIM card / mobile internet for my phone on this trip? Can’t I use wifi?

I’m glad you asked. It is true that public wifi is available throughout China. However, it usually (not always) requires mainland phone number SMS identification. It is likely that you will have Internet at your hotel but may find it hard to get connected to wifi out and about. Also, for a group of this size, you need to be able to follow developments on the group WeChat and have access to GPS maps, or you will get left behind/lost very early!

Q: What doesn't work in China?

Gmail. YouTube. Dropbox. Google Search. Facebook. Line. Twitter. Facebook messenger, Whatsapp, many news sites.
Don't save your VPN passwords and flight details solely in Gmail or Dropbox.

Q: What does work in China that might surprise me?
:• Most Microsoft services, including Skype and Bing. Bing is your only option for English search. Skype is a great option for calls, China's mobile network is pretty high performance.
:• Teamviewer
:• Most Apple services work. Apple maps / iMessage works fine, App Store works and has local servers now. Apple News is blocked, even with a VPN, and iCloud services will work.


Q. Are there any tricks that will get me uncensored internet 100% of the time?


Yes! The big workaround is to get a roaming SIM card, because all SIM data traffic is tunneled to your country of origin, and you can browse websites like you are back home.


Q. Oh, you mean like Google Fi or my carrier's roaming packs?


Google Fi is one option, but it’s important to realize that it may not be the fastest/cheapest. For a start to remain competitive they have to negotiate the cheapest deal possible in each country, so you may end up on a throttled data connection instead of a premium service. Also, because all traffic is routed back to your provider, your latency may be very high, possibly interfering with using services such as Skype and WeChat voice calls.


Q. What is the better option?


The better option is to get a SIM card in Hong Kong that is owned by a mainland telecom provider, which routes traffic back to Hong Kong over their carrier owned (hopefully congestion free) pipes. Two such examples are China Unicom and China Mobile. Make sure you are getting a ''roaming to China'' SIM and not a Hong Kong ''ONLY'' sim.

More reading:
https://www.larrysalibra.com/hop-over-the-great-firewall-with-government-help/

There are also other "travel SIMs" that have been tailored for use in China. If it is marketed toward China specifically, then it is probably a good option. One example is the AIS Sim2Fly, but be aware that it may require in person identification in Thailand(!) to use. http://www.ais.co.th/roaming/sim2fly/landing_china.html


Q. Will any SIM work in my phone?


Not always. China has historically deployed different radio spectra to other countries (different even from Hong Kong, so just because your phone works when you arrive doesn’t mean it will work in China). In recent times, the situation has gotten better, with iPhone 6 and above and many android phones supporting LTE bands on China Mobile, and China Unicom also supports a wide range of bands (but gives worse service/value than China Mobile).


Please also check if your phone is unlocked by your carrier, as it is common for many phones sold under contract to be tied to a provider. Often if you call them before you leave for China they will unlock it for you for free.


Q. How do I tell which SIM card to get?


If your phone supports TDD-LTE, get China Mobile, else get China Unicom.
:1. Find out the model number of your phone eg "iPhone 6S: Model A1688"
:2. Google "A1688 bands” to find out what it supports
:3. If your phone supports (TD-LTE) Bands: 38, 39, 40, 41, you are good to go with China Mobile!
:4. Else, get China Unicom.
For more information see: http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/China


Q. Can you help me buy a SIM card?


Unfortunently not. We are entering through Beijing, and thus can't buy SIM cards from HK.


Q. What are the SIM cards that you recommend specifically? How much do they cost?


If your phone supports TDD-LTE,
China Mobile “CMHK 4G/3G Individual traveller Prepaid SIM Card"
It costs $68HKD($8.69 US) for the SIM, and $168 HKD ($21.48 USD) for each 2GB data pack.
''Make sure it matches the picture below'': it is likely that the cashier will get confused and try to sell you a HK-only local sim instead!

http://www.hk.chinamobile.com/en/corporate_information/Prepaid_SIM/inbound_tourists/4G3Gprepaid-services-individual.html


Before you leave HK and enter China, recharge it online using this website: https://1cm.hk.chinamobile.com/bill/prepaid-refill.html?lang=en and activate a 2GB China & Hong Kong Data Package for $168 HKD.


If your phone doesn’t support TDD-LTE, or you’re just not sure, you can get the China Unicom Cross Border King
https://www.cuniq.com/hk_en/data-card/great-china/cross-border-king-hkno.html
Sim Costs $138 HKD ($17.64 USD)
Data packages are $118 HKD ($15.09 USD) / 1 GB.

[[File:HK_SIM.jpg|400px]]
 


Q. Where to look for these two cards?


7/11, Circle K 👌 and market stalls selling SIM cards. ''Make sure the photo matches and you are not being given a HK-only-SIM!''


Q: What about getting a local (Chinese Mainland) SIM Card:


Yes, you can do that. but everything will be blocked, and you will need real name registration with your passport and possibly a few hours to set it up. The first time I tried to do this, I thought I was getting prepaid but accidentally signed up for a 24 month plan.. and now I can’t get another due to leaving the country and not making payments. 🤦‍♂️ I don’t recommend this option.


= Translation tips =

Q: How can I translate and talk to Chinese people?

There are several good options:
:1. Google Translate: but it only works if you have a VPN and or have downloaded the offline pack beforehand. If you are translating offline, the quality of translation may be much less. Does however have an extremely nifty live translate options, that works offline and is completely indispensable for translating restaurant menus!
:2. Bing Translate: Works in china, and automatically translates text from screenshots. Also has a Safari plugin that can translate websites.
:3. Baidu Translate: Chinese native translation app. Great for second-checking Google/Bing translate when you are confused. Has a great AI / machine learning team and actually rolled out machine learning translate before Google did.
:4. WeChat: You can translate conversations while you are chatting to people. A lot of Chinese know this, and will ask for your WeChat right away so they can talk to you.
:5. Chinese Keyboards: If possible, install Chinese keyboards/input methods on your phone. This is so a Chinese person can type their part of the conversation using your phone. You may need a few because everyone has their own preference, e.g. pinyin, stroke, and handwriting. For Android, download the "Google Pinyin Input" app -- this has several Chinese keyboards in one. For iOS, you can enable "Chinese - Simplified Handwriting", "Chinese - Simplified Pinyin", and "Chinese - Simplified Stroke" on your phone.

Q: I want to buy a banana in China, but I don’t speak any Chinese, how can I buy a banana?

Here is a picture of a Banana. Now you can show this picture and very soon you will have your very own banana. Seriously, Bing Images speaks 1000 Chinese words. You can use text translate all day, but a picture of the thing you want will always get faster results.

[[File:Bananas.png|200px]]
 

Q: Wait Bing images?

Yes, remember Google is blocked 🙃

= Navigation tips =

Know the subway exit closest to your accommodation. Have someone write it down for you in Chinese to show a taxi driver or subway staff. Also, get your hotel to write down in Chinese the name of the building and address and phone number, so you can show to a taxi driver.

Q: My VPN works fine 😀 Can I rely on Google Maps?

Google Maps in China offsets GPS locations by a random amount. Even with a VPN. You will get very lost using it. Also, the maps haven't been updated much since Google left China years ago. The directions they give you may or may not be correct, but the blue dot WILL be wrong.

Q. What about Apple Maps? Openstreetmaps?

Both of these work although may not be that detailed. Apple Maps has public transport directions (in English!) for some cities.

Q: How to get up to date public transport/walking directions?

Use Baidu Maps.

Q: Wait I downloaded Baidu Maps and it's all in Chinese. WTF?

Welcome to China. A tip I recommend is to take a screenshot and then use Microsoft Translator to understand what the functions are. But if you've used mapping apps before most of functions are the same. I recommend copy and pasting the Chinese address, or getting a Chinese person to type it in for you. For this you may need a few Chinese keyboards, as each person has their own preference of keyboard type.

Baidu Maps also has excellent public transport directions, including subway and buses. It takes a bit of back and forward between Bing Translate to understand what to do, see example screenshot below.

[[File:BaiduMapExample_composite.png|500px]]
 

Q: Why install a Chinese app? It's all too confusing.

So Chinese people can help you. So you can get up to date public transport. So you can navigate there in augmented reality mode. (really)... so you can hire bicycles to get you there... so you can save the whole map offline.

Q: Got any tips to save me battery / SIM Card data?
:1. Buy a powerbank. Almost easier to find than food in China.
:2. Because some services will be blocked, your phone might waste a lot of time trying to connect to things and fail. If it’s sensible, it will give up and not constantly retry. but if you get battery drain you can try turning off any push email and background app refresh for blocked services e.g. Facebook / Google Apps.
:3. Make sure you don’t have things like Camera Roll upload to Dropbox turned on for Cellular data!

Q: This is really weird. So what services do Chinese people use?

I’m glad you asked 😀. The Chinese Internet industry is flourishing, and Chinese use a wide range of locally developed apps.

I recommend checking out a top 100 list of apps such as the iTunes China App store rankings, but here are some examples: 
:Netease/Baidu/Kogou - like Spotify
:Alipay - Like Paypal, but can be used in real life to pay for anything including Metro tickets.
:Kwai - Funny videos
:didi - Like Uber, and available in English!
:iQiyi - Like Netflix
:Mobike - Share bikes
:Meitu - Beauty app, with live video transformations
:Dianping - Like foursquare/yelp, only been around longer and more organised.
:Bilibili / Youku - Social video platforms
:Taobao / Tmall / JD - Ebay, Amazon, etc
:Baidu Pan - Like Dropbox, only they give you 2TB for free..
:Baidu Maps / Amap - Like Google maps, but still has fierce competition for features.

= Which VPN should I use? =

Astrill has a long history of working in China.. why that is? 🤔 Well.. One could only speculate. You should set your expectation for any VPN service low, and not expect it to work at all times of the day. Make sure you buy it before you arrive in the mainland, and save the server list/app on your device.

I also use Lantern as a backup https://getlantern.org and I’ve heard good things about ExpressVPN.

= Before you come to China =

Get a VPN Account (eg, Astrill, ExpressVPN or Lantern)

Download Apps:
WeChat (Chat)
Baidu Maps (Public transport directions)
Bing Translate
Baidu Translate
Skype (cheap landline or Internet calls back home, not blocked by firewall)
Google Translate (English —> Chinese) && (Chinese —> English) Offline translation pack
For Android, install Google Pinyin Input
For iPhone, enable Chinese keyboards/input methods (eg at least pinyin / handwriting / stroke),    which you can do this in your phone language settings.

== Tell your bank before you leave that you are travelling to China ==
If you rely on your local phone number for SMS 2FA (Banking, iCloud, Finance, etc), then either

== Tell your phone provider you are travelling to China ==
Get them to turn on international roaming and bring a spare phone with your SIM. 
       OR
Get the 2FA codes disabled while you are in China. 
Turn OFF data roaming before you arrive, unless you are only using a local SIM in your phone.
Be aware of which of your bank cards are going to charge you an international transaction fee and/or a ATM withdrawal fee. (Charles Schwab charges neither) If you can’t avoid fees, then make sure you do big ATM cash withdrawals each time to reduce ATM fees.

== I'm too busy, can't I just get it all when I get to China? ==

Yes, but..
:• Google Play Store is completely blocked in China. So either you will be downloading apps at a very slow speed over a VPN or downloading random .apks from untrusted sources
:• iPhones are easier, but hotel wifi is universally shitty and you will still be lost the first few days before you install everything
:• Banks and phone companies might not want to talk to you once you leave the country.

== Data usage tips ==

Tips to reduce the amount of mobile data your phone uses:

Turn off any automated uploading of photos (on mobile data)
:• Dropbox
:• iCloud Photo Library (turn off unlimited updates, and Mobile Data)
:• Google Photos

Turn off background updating of apps
:• On iOS, set Background App Refresh to "Wifi"
:• If you use podcasting apps, make sure they only update on Wifi.
:• iCloud Drive / Google Drive

Caching data offline
:• Baidu Maps has an offline cached map available for every city. You can choose each city in the settings. It's an incredible detailed map and strongly recommended, even if it is in chinese.
:• Google Translate has offline translate packs, that are needed for real-time translate.
:• On Mac, there is a utility called Tripmode, which will allow you to disable apps when connected to tethered data. https://www.tripmode.ch

== Going down internet rabbit holes... ==

Q: China is gonna pwn my phone and spy on me. I'm scared 😰

Yep, could happen. Also, the NSA is already spying on you (PRISM). And the UK (Tempura). And Canada.. and Australia..(Five Eyes). and Russia.. and who knows who else.

So set your paranoia level accordingly. You want to come with a fresh phone? Go right ahead. But just remember that the internet is global, you can get hacked in any country, and most of your phones parts probably originated in China anyway…
Don’t be so scared that you spend your whole trip lost using a feature phone..

Sensible preparations include making sure you are running the latest version of your OS and apps, and having backups of everything you take with you. Changing passwords regularly or after your trip is also a sensible thing to do.

Q: I don’t trust Astrill, I wanna set up my own VPN.-

Straight OpenVPN is likely to get blocked after working for a few minutes, OpenVPN with obfsproxy less so, and any protocols that big businesses use are more likely to work, eg PPTP / Cisco Anyconnect / L2TP.
Also worth looking at projects that script an install for you onto a VPS, such as https://github.com/madbuda/brasscrow

Running a public Tor on your server at home will get the entire IP blocked the first time you use it.

Q. Can I just use SSH tunnels? Surely China won’t block SSH..

You can use SSH interactively, but when you start to transfer data through it, the packet loss goes through the roof until you restart the session. See for example: http://blog.zorinaq.com/my-experience-with-the-great-firewall-of-china/

Q: My VPN stopped working and now my internet is really slow.. Are they on to me? 😬

It’s probably just slow for everyone. VPNs aren’t illegal in China, but they do have automated processes for blocking them. Just because they blocked your server doesn’t mean they are targeting you.

Q. Can I use Teamviewer?

Yes….

Q. Can I watch Netflix?

Not unless you are really lucky. Streaming speeds are really bad over VPNs.

HTTC Internet Tips

2018-10-29T03:15:22Z

Noah: /* Going down internet rabbit holes... */

<pre style="color: black; font-size:xx-large;">
Guide to Chinese Internet & Phones,
       Translation, Navigation,
       Recommended Phone Apps, and
       What to Do Before Getting to China
</pre>

'''''This is useful info for people who want to travel in China''''' 
''It was created for people traveling on the [[NoisebridgeChinaTrip7|Hacker Trip To China]] in 2017, and has been updated for the [[NoisebridgeChinaTrip8|2018 edition]]''

= VPN, Internet, Blocked Websites, and SIM cards for your phone =

'''The Great Firewall of China''' 

As most people know, China censors its internet. The equipment that blocks some internet, and lets other internet through, is called a “Firewall”. There are ways around this, so that people in China (such as you!) can use any website that you like on your phone or laptop.

'''What is VPN?''' 

“VPN” is a means of securely connecting to other computers. It can be used to get around “The Great Firewall”.
 

Q: I have 10 proxies, 4 VPNs and Tor. Do I need this guide?

Yes: because there are times (anecdotally between 4pm and 11:30pm some days) where the international pipes are just too damn clogged! Relying on something overseas during those times ''may not help you.''

To give you a sense of the scale of the problem, tested from a random cafe in Beijing, connected to a 802.11AC network with good signal:

Speedtest.net to Beijing server gives 3ms/93.9Mbps(down)/18.2Mbps(up).
Speedtest.net to US gives 224ms/1.14Mbps(down)/3.4Mbps(up).

It's not just about finding a VPN technology, it's about finding a location with good throughput.

Also, Tor is blocked and China has an army of computer science graduates coming up with automated scripts to block your VPNs. Think about this before you assume it's not blocked.

Q. Do I need a SIM card / mobile internet for my phone on this trip? Can’t I use wifi?

I’m glad you asked. It is true that public wifi is available throughout China. However, it usually (not always) requires mainland phone number SMS identification. It is likely that you will have Internet at your hotel but may find it hard to get connected to wifi out and about. Also, for a group of this size, you need to be able to follow developments on the group WeChat and have access to GPS maps, or you will get left behind/lost very early!

Q: What doesn't work in China?

Gmail. YouTube. Dropbox. Google Search. Facebook. Line. Twitter. Facebook messenger, Whatsapp, many news sites.
Don't save your VPN passwords and flight details solely in Gmail or Dropbox.

Q: What does work in China that might surprise me?
:• Most Microsoft services, including Skype and Bing. Bing is your only option for English search. Skype is a great option for calls, China's mobile network is pretty high performance.
:• Teamviewer
:• Most Apple services work. Apple maps / iMessage works fine, App Store works and has local servers now. Apple News is blocked, even with a VPN, and iCloud services will work.


Q. Are there any tricks that will get me uncensored internet 100% of the time?


Yes! The big workaround is to get a roaming SIM card, because all SIM data traffic is tunneled to your country of origin, and you can browse websites like you are back home.


Q. Oh, you mean like Google Fi or my carrier's roaming packs?


Google Fi is one option, but it’s important to realize that it may not be the fastest/cheapest. For a start to remain competitive they have to negotiate the cheapest deal possible in each country, so you may end up on a throttled data connection instead of a premium service. Also, because all traffic is routed back to your provider, your latency may be very high, possibly interfering with using services such as Skype and WeChat voice calls.


Q. What is the better option?


The better option is to get a SIM card in Hong Kong that is owned by a mainland telecom provider, which routes traffic back to Hong Kong over their carrier owned (hopefully congestion free) pipes. Two such examples are China Unicom and China Mobile. Make sure you are getting a ''roaming to China'' SIM and not a Hong Kong ''ONLY'' sim.

More reading:
https://www.larrysalibra.com/hop-over-the-great-firewall-with-government-help/

There are also other "travel SIMs" that have been tailored for use in China. If it is marketed toward China specifically, then it is probably a good option. One example is the AIS Sim2Fly, but be aware that it may require in person identification in Thailand(!) to use. http://www.ais.co.th/roaming/sim2fly/landing_china.html


Q. Will any SIM work in my phone?


Not always. China has historically deployed different radio spectra to other countries (different even from Hong Kong, so just because your phone works when you arrive doesn’t mean it will work in China). In recent times, the situation has gotten better, with iPhone 6 and above and many android phones supporting LTE bands on China Mobile, and China Unicom also supports a wide range of bands (but gives worse service/value than China Mobile).


Please also check if your phone is unlocked by your carrier, as it is common for many phones sold under contract to be tied to a provider. Often if you call them before you leave for China they will unlock it for you for free.


Q. How do I tell which SIM card to get?


If your phone supports TDD-LTE, get China Mobile, else get China Unicom.
:1. Find out the model number of your phone eg "iPhone 6S: Model A1688"
:2. Google "A1688 bands” to find out what it supports
:3. If your phone supports (TD-LTE) Bands: 38, 39, 40, 41, you are good to go with China Mobile!
:4. Else, get China Unicom.
For more information see: http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/China


Q. Can you help me buy a SIM card?


Unfortunently not. We are entering through Beijing, and thus can't buy SIM cards from HK.


Q. What are the SIM cards that you recommend specifically? How much do they cost?


If your phone supports TDD-LTE,
China Mobile “CMHK 4G/3G Individual traveller Prepaid SIM Card"
It costs $68HKD($8.69 US) for the SIM, and $168 HKD ($21.48 USD) for each 2GB data pack.
''Make sure it matches the picture below'': it is likely that the cashier will get confused and try to sell you a HK-only local sim instead!

http://www.hk.chinamobile.com/en/corporate_information/Prepaid_SIM/inbound_tourists/4G3Gprepaid-services-individual.html


Before you leave HK and enter China, recharge it online using this website: https://1cm.hk.chinamobile.com/bill/prepaid-refill.html?lang=en and activate a 2GB China & Hong Kong Data Package for $168 HKD.


If your phone doesn’t support TDD-LTE, or you’re just not sure, you can get the China Unicom Cross Border King
https://www.cuniq.com/hk_en/data-card/great-china/cross-border-king-hkno.html
Sim Costs $138 HKD ($17.64 USD)
Data packages are $118 HKD ($15.09 USD) / 1 GB.

[[File:HK_SIM.jpg|400px]]
 


Q. Where to look for these two cards?


7/11, Circle K 👌 and market stalls selling SIM cards. ''Make sure the photo matches and you are not being given a HK-only-SIM!''


Q: What about getting a local (Chinese Mainland) SIM Card:


Yes, you can do that. but everything will be blocked, and you will need real name registration with your passport and possibly a few hours to set it up. The first time I tried to do this, I thought I was getting prepaid but accidentally signed up for a 24 month plan.. and now I can’t get another due to leaving the country and not making payments. 🤦‍♂️ I don’t recommend this option.


= Translation tips =

Q: How can I translate and talk to Chinese people?

There are several good options:
:1. Google Translate: but it only works if you have a VPN and or have downloaded the offline pack beforehand. If you are translating offline, the quality of translation may be much less. Does however have an extremely nifty live translate options, that works offline and is completely indispensable for translating restaurant menus!
:2. Bing Translate: Works in china, and automatically translates text from screenshots. Also has a Safari plugin that can translate websites.
:3. Baidu Translate: Chinese native translation app. Great for second-checking Google/Bing translate when you are confused. Has a great AI / machine learning team and actually rolled out machine learning translate before Google did.
:4. WeChat: You can translate conversations while you are chatting to people. A lot of Chinese know this, and will ask for your WeChat right away so they can talk to you.
:5. Chinese Keyboards: If possible, install Chinese keyboards/input methods on your phone. This is so a Chinese person can type their part of the conversation using your phone. You may need a few because everyone has their own preference, e.g. pinyin, stroke, and handwriting. For Android, download the "Google Pinyin Input" app -- this has several Chinese keyboards in one. For iOS, you can enable "Chinese - Simplified Handwriting", "Chinese - Simplified Pinyin", and "Chinese - Simplified Stroke" on your phone.

Q: I want to buy a banana in China, but I don’t speak any Chinese, how can I buy a banana?

Here is a picture of a Banana. Now you can show this picture and very soon you will have your very own banana. Seriously, Bing Images speaks 1000 Chinese words. You can use text translate all day, but a picture of the thing you want will always get faster results.

[[File:Bananas.png|200px]]
 

Q: Wait Bing images?

Yes, remember Google is blocked 🙃

= Navigation tips =

Know the subway exit closest to your accommodation. Have someone write it down for you in Chinese to show a taxi driver or subway staff. Also, get your hotel to write down in Chinese the name of the building and address and phone number, so you can show to a taxi driver.

Q: My VPN works fine 😀 Can I rely on Google Maps?

Google Maps in China offsets GPS locations by a random amount. Even with a VPN. You will get very lost using it. Also, the maps haven't been updated much since Google left China years ago. The directions they give you may or may not be correct, but the blue dot WILL be wrong.

Q. What about Apple Maps? Openstreetmaps?

Both of these work although may not be that detailed. Apple Maps has public transport directions (in English!) for some cities.

Q: How to get up to date public transport/walking directions?

Use Baidu Maps.

Q: Wait I downloaded Baidu Maps and it's all in Chinese. WTF?

Welcome to China. A tip I recommend is to take a screenshot and then use Microsoft Translator to understand what the functions are. But if you've used mapping apps before most of functions are the same. I recommend copy and pasting the Chinese address, or getting a Chinese person to type it in for you. For this you may need a few Chinese keyboards, as each person has their own preference of keyboard type.

Baidu Maps also has excellent public transport directions, including subway and buses. It takes a bit of back and forward between Bing Translate to understand what to do, see example screenshot below.

[[File:BaiduMapExample_composite.png|500px]]
 

Q: Why install a Chinese app? It's all too confusing.

So Chinese people can help you. So you can get up to date public transport. So you can navigate there in augmented reality mode. (really)... so you can hire bicycles to get you there... so you can save the whole map offline.

Q: Got any tips to save me battery / SIM Card data?
:1. Buy a powerbank. Almost easier to find than food in China.
:2. Because some services will be blocked, your phone might waste a lot of time trying to connect to things and fail. If it’s sensible, it will give up and not constantly retry. but if you get battery drain you can try turning off any push email and background app refresh for blocked services e.g. Facebook / Google Apps.
:3. Make sure you don’t have things like Camera Roll upload to Dropbox turned on for Cellular data!

Q: This is really weird. So what services do Chinese people use?

I’m glad you asked 😀. The Chinese Internet industry is flourishing, and Chinese use a wide range of locally developed apps.

I recommend checking out a top 100 list of apps such as the iTunes China App store rankings, but here are some examples: 
:Netease/Baidu/Kogou - like Spotify
:Alipay - Like Paypal, but can be used in real life to pay for anything including Metro tickets.
:Kwai - Funny videos
:didi - Like Uber, and available in English!
:iQiyi - Like Netflix
:Mobike - Share bikes
:Meitu - Beauty app, with live video transformations
:Dianping - Like foursquare/yelp, only been around longer and more organised.
:Bilibili / Youku - Social video platforms
:Taobao / Tmall / JD - Ebay, Amazon, etc
:Baidu Pan - Like Dropbox, only they give you 2TB for free..
:Baidu Maps / Amap - Like Google maps, but still has fierce competition for features.

= Which VPN should I use? =

Astrill has a long history of working in China.. why that is? 🤔 Well.. One could only speculate. You should set your expectation for any VPN service low, and not expect it to work at all times of the day. Make sure you buy it before you arrive in the mainland, and save the server list/app on your device.

I also use Lantern as a backup https://getlantern.org and I’ve heard good things about ExpressVPN.

= Before you come to China =

Get a VPN Account (eg, Astrill, ExpressVPN or Lantern)

Download Apps:
WeChat (Chat)
Baidu Maps (Public transport directions)
Bing Translate
Baidu Translate
Skype (cheap landline or Internet calls back home, not blocked by firewall)
Google Translate (English —> Chinese) && (Chinese —> English) Offline translation pack
For Android, install Google Pinyin Input
For iPhone, enable Chinese keyboards/input methods (eg at least pinyin / handwriting / stroke),    which you can do this in your phone language settings.

== Tell your bank before you leave that you are travelling to China ==
If you rely on your local phone number for SMS 2FA (Banking, iCloud, Finance, etc), then either

== Tell your phone provider you are travelling to China ==
Get them to turn on international roaming and bring a spare phone with your SIM. 
       OR
Get the 2FA codes disabled while you are in China. 
Turn OFF data roaming before you arrive, unless you are only using a local SIM in your phone.
Be aware of which of your bank cards are going to charge you an international transaction fee and/or a ATM withdrawal fee. (Charles Schwab charges neither) If you can’t avoid fees, then make sure you do big ATM cash withdrawals each time to reduce ATM fees.

== I'm too busy, can't I just get it all when I get to China? ==

Yes, but..
:• Google Play Store is completely blocked in China. So either you will be downloading apps at a very slow speed over a VPN or downloading random .apks from untrusted sources
:• iPhones are easier, but hotel wifi is universally shitty and you will still be lost the first few days before you install everything
:• Banks and phone companies might not want to talk to you once you leave the country.

== Data usage tips ==

Tips to reduce the amount of mobile data your phone uses:
:• Turn off any automated uploading of photos (on mobile data)
:• Dropbox
:• iCloud Photo Library (turn off unlimited updates, and Mobile Data)
:• Google Photos
:• Turn off background updating of apps
:• On iOS, set Background App Refresh to "Wifi"
:• If you use podcasting apps, make sure they only update on Wifi.
:• iCloud Drive / Google Drive
:• Caching data offline
:• Baidu Maps has an offline cached map available for every city. You can choose each city in the settings. It's an incredible detailed map and strongly recommended, even if it is in chinese.
:• Google Translate has offline translate packs, that are needed for real-time translate.
:• On Mac, there is a utility called Tripmode, which will allow you to disable apps when connected to tethered data. https://www.tripmode.ch

== Going down internet rabbit holes... ==

Q: China is gonna pwn my phone and spy on me. I'm scared 😰

Yep, could happen. Also, the NSA is already spying on you (PRISM). And the UK (Tempura). And Canada.. and Australia..(Five Eyes). and Russia.. and who knows who else.

So set your paranoia level accordingly. You want to come with a fresh phone? Go right ahead. But just remember that the internet is global, you can get hacked in any country, and most of your phones parts probably originated in China anyway…
Don’t be so scared that you spend your whole trip lost using a feature phone..

Sensible preparations include making sure you are running the latest version of your OS and apps, and having backups of everything you take with you. Changing passwords regularly or after your trip is also a sensible thing to do.

Q: I don’t trust Astrill, I wanna set up my own VPN.-

Straight OpenVPN is likely to get blocked after working for a few minutes, OpenVPN with obfsproxy less so, and any protocols that big businesses use are more likely to work, eg PPTP / Cisco Anyconnect / L2TP.
Also worth looking at projects that script an install for you onto a VPS, such as https://github.com/madbuda/brasscrow

Running a public Tor on your server at home will get the entire IP blocked the first time you use it.

Q. Can I just use SSH tunnels? Surely China won’t block SSH..

You can use SSH interactively, but when you start to transfer data through it, the packet loss goes through the roof until you restart the session. See for example: http://blog.zorinaq.com/my-experience-with-the-great-firewall-of-china/

Q: My VPN stopped working and now my internet is really slow.. Are they on to me? 😬

It’s probably just slow for everyone. VPNs aren’t illegal in China, but they do have automated processes for blocking them. Just because they blocked your server doesn’t mean they are targeting you.

Q. Can I use Teamviewer?

Yes….

Q. Can I watch Netflix?

Not unless you are really lucky. Streaming speeds are really bad over VPNs.

HTTC Internet Tips

2018-10-29T03:14:42Z

Noah: /* Before you come to China */

<pre style="color: black; font-size:xx-large;">
Guide to Chinese Internet & Phones,
       Translation, Navigation,
       Recommended Phone Apps, and
       What to Do Before Getting to China
</pre>

'''''This is useful info for people who want to travel in China''''' 
''It was created for people traveling on the [[NoisebridgeChinaTrip7|Hacker Trip To China]] in 2017, and has been updated for the [[NoisebridgeChinaTrip8|2018 edition]]''

= VPN, Internet, Blocked Websites, and SIM cards for your phone =

'''The Great Firewall of China''' 

As most people know, China censors its internet. The equipment that blocks some internet, and lets other internet through, is called a “Firewall”. There are ways around this, so that people in China (such as you!) can use any website that you like on your phone or laptop.

'''What is VPN?''' 

“VPN” is a means of securely connecting to other computers. It can be used to get around “The Great Firewall”.
 

Q: I have 10 proxies, 4 VPNs and Tor. Do I need this guide?

Yes: because there are times (anecdotally between 4pm and 11:30pm some days) where the international pipes are just too damn clogged! Relying on something overseas during those times ''may not help you.''

To give you a sense of the scale of the problem, tested from a random cafe in Beijing, connected to a 802.11AC network with good signal:

Speedtest.net to Beijing server gives 3ms/93.9Mbps(down)/18.2Mbps(up).
Speedtest.net to US gives 224ms/1.14Mbps(down)/3.4Mbps(up).

It's not just about finding a VPN technology, it's about finding a location with good throughput.

Also, Tor is blocked and China has an army of computer science graduates coming up with automated scripts to block your VPNs. Think about this before you assume it's not blocked.

Q. Do I need a SIM card / mobile internet for my phone on this trip? Can’t I use wifi?

I’m glad you asked. It is true that public wifi is available throughout China. However, it usually (not always) requires mainland phone number SMS identification. It is likely that you will have Internet at your hotel but may find it hard to get connected to wifi out and about. Also, for a group of this size, you need to be able to follow developments on the group WeChat and have access to GPS maps, or you will get left behind/lost very early!

Q: What doesn't work in China?

Gmail. YouTube. Dropbox. Google Search. Facebook. Line. Twitter. Facebook messenger, Whatsapp, many news sites.
Don't save your VPN passwords and flight details solely in Gmail or Dropbox.

Q: What does work in China that might surprise me?
:• Most Microsoft services, including Skype and Bing. Bing is your only option for English search. Skype is a great option for calls, China's mobile network is pretty high performance.
:• Teamviewer
:• Most Apple services work. Apple maps / iMessage works fine, App Store works and has local servers now. Apple News is blocked, even with a VPN, and iCloud services will work.


Q. Are there any tricks that will get me uncensored internet 100% of the time?


Yes! The big workaround is to get a roaming SIM card, because all SIM data traffic is tunneled to your country of origin, and you can browse websites like you are back home.


Q. Oh, you mean like Google Fi or my carrier's roaming packs?


Google Fi is one option, but it’s important to realize that it may not be the fastest/cheapest. For a start to remain competitive they have to negotiate the cheapest deal possible in each country, so you may end up on a throttled data connection instead of a premium service. Also, because all traffic is routed back to your provider, your latency may be very high, possibly interfering with using services such as Skype and WeChat voice calls.


Q. What is the better option?


The better option is to get a SIM card in Hong Kong that is owned by a mainland telecom provider, which routes traffic back to Hong Kong over their carrier owned (hopefully congestion free) pipes. Two such examples are China Unicom and China Mobile. Make sure you are getting a ''roaming to China'' SIM and not a Hong Kong ''ONLY'' sim.

More reading:
https://www.larrysalibra.com/hop-over-the-great-firewall-with-government-help/

There are also other "travel SIMs" that have been tailored for use in China. If it is marketed toward China specifically, then it is probably a good option. One example is the AIS Sim2Fly, but be aware that it may require in person identification in Thailand(!) to use. http://www.ais.co.th/roaming/sim2fly/landing_china.html


Q. Will any SIM work in my phone?


Not always. China has historically deployed different radio spectra to other countries (different even from Hong Kong, so just because your phone works when you arrive doesn’t mean it will work in China). In recent times, the situation has gotten better, with iPhone 6 and above and many android phones supporting LTE bands on China Mobile, and China Unicom also supports a wide range of bands (but gives worse service/value than China Mobile).


Please also check if your phone is unlocked by your carrier, as it is common for many phones sold under contract to be tied to a provider. Often if you call them before you leave for China they will unlock it for you for free.


Q. How do I tell which SIM card to get?


If your phone supports TDD-LTE, get China Mobile, else get China Unicom.
:1. Find out the model number of your phone eg "iPhone 6S: Model A1688"
:2. Google "A1688 bands” to find out what it supports
:3. If your phone supports (TD-LTE) Bands: 38, 39, 40, 41, you are good to go with China Mobile!
:4. Else, get China Unicom.
For more information see: http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/China


Q. Can you help me buy a SIM card?


Unfortunently not. We are entering through Beijing, and thus can't buy SIM cards from HK.


Q. What are the SIM cards that you recommend specifically? How much do they cost?


If your phone supports TDD-LTE,
China Mobile “CMHK 4G/3G Individual traveller Prepaid SIM Card"
It costs $68HKD($8.69 US) for the SIM, and $168 HKD ($21.48 USD) for each 2GB data pack.
''Make sure it matches the picture below'': it is likely that the cashier will get confused and try to sell you a HK-only local sim instead!

http://www.hk.chinamobile.com/en/corporate_information/Prepaid_SIM/inbound_tourists/4G3Gprepaid-services-individual.html


Before you leave HK and enter China, recharge it online using this website: https://1cm.hk.chinamobile.com/bill/prepaid-refill.html?lang=en and activate a 2GB China & Hong Kong Data Package for $168 HKD.


If your phone doesn’t support TDD-LTE, or you’re just not sure, you can get the China Unicom Cross Border King
https://www.cuniq.com/hk_en/data-card/great-china/cross-border-king-hkno.html
Sim Costs $138 HKD ($17.64 USD)
Data packages are $118 HKD ($15.09 USD) / 1 GB.

[[File:HK_SIM.jpg|400px]]
 


Q. Where to look for these two cards?


7/11, Circle K 👌 and market stalls selling SIM cards. ''Make sure the photo matches and you are not being given a HK-only-SIM!''


Q: What about getting a local (Chinese Mainland) SIM Card:


Yes, you can do that. but everything will be blocked, and you will need real name registration with your passport and possibly a few hours to set it up. The first time I tried to do this, I thought I was getting prepaid but accidentally signed up for a 24 month plan.. and now I can’t get another due to leaving the country and not making payments. 🤦‍♂️ I don’t recommend this option.


= Translation tips =

Q: How can I translate and talk to Chinese people?

There are several good options:
:1. Google Translate: but it only works if you have a VPN and or have downloaded the offline pack beforehand. If you are translating offline, the quality of translation may be much less. Does however have an extremely nifty live translate options, that works offline and is completely indispensable for translating restaurant menus!
:2. Bing Translate: Works in china, and automatically translates text from screenshots. Also has a Safari plugin that can translate websites.
:3. Baidu Translate: Chinese native translation app. Great for second-checking Google/Bing translate when you are confused. Has a great AI / machine learning team and actually rolled out machine learning translate before Google did.
:4. WeChat: You can translate conversations while you are chatting to people. A lot of Chinese know this, and will ask for your WeChat right away so they can talk to you.
:5. Chinese Keyboards: If possible, install Chinese keyboards/input methods on your phone. This is so a Chinese person can type their part of the conversation using your phone. You may need a few because everyone has their own preference, e.g. pinyin, stroke, and handwriting. For Android, download the "Google Pinyin Input" app -- this has several Chinese keyboards in one. For iOS, you can enable "Chinese - Simplified Handwriting", "Chinese - Simplified Pinyin", and "Chinese - Simplified Stroke" on your phone.

Q: I want to buy a banana in China, but I don’t speak any Chinese, how can I buy a banana?

Here is a picture of a Banana. Now you can show this picture and very soon you will have your very own banana. Seriously, Bing Images speaks 1000 Chinese words. You can use text translate all day, but a picture of the thing you want will always get faster results.

[[File:Bananas.png|200px]]
 

Q: Wait Bing images?

Yes, remember Google is blocked 🙃

= Navigation tips =

Know the subway exit closest to your accommodation. Have someone write it down for you in Chinese to show a taxi driver or subway staff. Also, get your hotel to write down in Chinese the name of the building and address and phone number, so you can show to a taxi driver.

Q: My VPN works fine 😀 Can I rely on Google Maps?

Google Maps in China offsets GPS locations by a random amount. Even with a VPN. You will get very lost using it. Also, the maps haven't been updated much since Google left China years ago. The directions they give you may or may not be correct, but the blue dot WILL be wrong.

Q. What about Apple Maps? Openstreetmaps?

Both of these work although may not be that detailed. Apple Maps has public transport directions (in English!) for some cities.

Q: How to get up to date public transport/walking directions?

Use Baidu Maps.

Q: Wait I downloaded Baidu Maps and it's all in Chinese. WTF?

Welcome to China. A tip I recommend is to take a screenshot and then use Microsoft Translator to understand what the functions are. But if you've used mapping apps before most of functions are the same. I recommend copy and pasting the Chinese address, or getting a Chinese person to type it in for you. For this you may need a few Chinese keyboards, as each person has their own preference of keyboard type.

Baidu Maps also has excellent public transport directions, including subway and buses. It takes a bit of back and forward between Bing Translate to understand what to do, see example screenshot below.

[[File:BaiduMapExample_composite.png|500px]]
 

Q: Why install a Chinese app? It's all too confusing.

So Chinese people can help you. So you can get up to date public transport. So you can navigate there in augmented reality mode. (really)... so you can hire bicycles to get you there... so you can save the whole map offline.

Q: Got any tips to save me battery / SIM Card data?
:1. Buy a powerbank. Almost easier to find than food in China.
:2. Because some services will be blocked, your phone might waste a lot of time trying to connect to things and fail. If it’s sensible, it will give up and not constantly retry. but if you get battery drain you can try turning off any push email and background app refresh for blocked services e.g. Facebook / Google Apps.
:3. Make sure you don’t have things like Camera Roll upload to Dropbox turned on for Cellular data!

Q: This is really weird. So what services do Chinese people use?

I’m glad you asked 😀. The Chinese Internet industry is flourishing, and Chinese use a wide range of locally developed apps.

I recommend checking out a top 100 list of apps such as the iTunes China App store rankings, but here are some examples: 
:Netease/Baidu/Kogou - like Spotify
:Alipay - Like Paypal, but can be used in real life to pay for anything including Metro tickets.
:Kwai - Funny videos
:didi - Like Uber, and available in English!
:iQiyi - Like Netflix
:Mobike - Share bikes
:Meitu - Beauty app, with live video transformations
:Dianping - Like foursquare/yelp, only been around longer and more organised.
:Bilibili / Youku - Social video platforms
:Taobao / Tmall / JD - Ebay, Amazon, etc
:Baidu Pan - Like Dropbox, only they give you 2TB for free..
:Baidu Maps / Amap - Like Google maps, but still has fierce competition for features.

= Which VPN should I use? =

Astrill has a long history of working in China.. why that is? 🤔 Well.. One could only speculate. You should set your expectation for any VPN service low, and not expect it to work at all times of the day. Make sure you buy it before you arrive in the mainland, and save the server list/app on your device.

I also use Lantern as a backup https://getlantern.org and I’ve heard good things about ExpressVPN.

= Before you come to China =

Get a VPN Account (eg, Astrill, ExpressVPN or Lantern)

Download Apps:
WeChat (Chat)
Baidu Maps (Public transport directions)
Bing Translate
Baidu Translate
Skype (cheap landline or Internet calls back home, not blocked by firewall)
Google Translate (English —> Chinese) && (Chinese —> English) Offline translation pack
For Android, install Google Pinyin Input
For iPhone, enable Chinese keyboards/input methods (eg at least pinyin / handwriting / stroke),    which you can do this in your phone language settings.

== Tell your bank before you leave that you are travelling to China ==
If you rely on your local phone number for SMS 2FA (Banking, iCloud, Finance, etc), then either

== Tell your phone provider you are travelling to China ==
Get them to turn on international roaming and bring a spare phone with your SIM. 
       OR
Get the 2FA codes disabled while you are in China. 
Turn OFF data roaming before you arrive, unless you are only using a local SIM in your phone.
Be aware of which of your bank cards are going to charge you an international transaction fee and/or a ATM withdrawal fee. (Charles Schwab charges neither) If you can’t avoid fees, then make sure you do big ATM cash withdrawals each time to reduce ATM fees.

== I'm too busy, can't I just get it all when I get to China? ==

Yes, but..
:• Google Play Store is completely blocked in China. So either you will be downloading apps at a very slow speed over a VPN or downloading random .apks from untrusted sources
:• iPhones are easier, but hotel wifi is universally shitty and you will still be lost the first few days before you install everything
:• Banks and phone companies might not want to talk to you once you leave the country.

== Data usage tips ==

Tips to reduce the amount of mobile data your phone uses:
:• Turn off any automated uploading of photos (on mobile data)
:• Dropbox
:• iCloud Photo Library (turn off unlimited updates, and Mobile Data)
:• Google Photos
:• Turn off background updating of apps
:• On iOS, set Background App Refresh to "Wifi"
:• If you use podcasting apps, make sure they only update on Wifi.
:• iCloud Drive / Google Drive
:• Caching data offline
:• Baidu Maps has an offline cached map available for every city. You can choose each city in the settings. It's an incredible detailed map and strongly recommended, even if it is in chinese.
:• Google Translate has offline translate packs, that are needed for real-time translate.
:• On Mac, there is a utility called Tripmode, which will allow you to disable apps when connected to tethered data. https://www.tripmode.ch

== Going down internet rabbit holes... ==

Q: China is gonna pwn my phone and spy on me. I'm scared 😰

Yep, could happen. Also, the NSA is already spying on you (PRISM). And the UK (Tempura). And Canada.. and Australia..(Five Eyes). and Russia.. and who knows who else.

So set your paranoia level accordingly. You want to come with a fresh phone? Go right ahead. But just remember that the internet is global, you can get hacked in any country, and most of your phones parts probably originated in China anyway…
Don’t be so scared that you spend your whole trip lost using a feature phone..

Sensible preparations include making sure you are running the latest version of your OS and apps, and having backups of everything you take with you. Changing passwords regularly or after your trip is also a sensible thing to do.

Q: I don’t trust Astrill, I wanna set up my own VPN.-

Straight OpenVPN is likely to get blocked after working for a few minutes, OpenVPN with obfsproxy less so, and any protocols that big businesses use are more likely to work, eg PPTP / Cisco Anyconnect / L2TP.
Also worth looking at projects that script an install for you onto a VPS, such as https://github.com/madbuda/brasscrow

Running a public Tor on your server at home will get the entire IP blocked the first time you use it.

Q. Can I just use SSH tunnels? Surely China won’t block SSH..

You can use SSH interactively, but when you start to transfer data through it, the packet loss goes through the roof until you restart the session. See for example: http://blog.zorinaq.com/my-experience-with-the-great-firewall-of-china/

Q: My VPN stopped working and now my internet is really slow.. Are they on to me? 😬

It’s probably just slow for everyone. VPNs aren’t illegal in China, but they do have automated processes for blocking them. Just because they blocked your server doesn’t mean they are targeting you.

Q. Can I use Teamviewer?

Yes….

Q. Can I watch Netflix?

Not unless you are really lucky. Streaming speeds are really bad over VPNs.


Q. What should I do next?


Answer questions in the email Mitch sent to the group about your phone and getting SIM cards for you.

HTTC Internet Tips

2018-10-29T03:13:44Z

Noah: corrected header

<pre style="color: black; font-size:xx-large;">
Guide to Chinese Internet & Phones,
       Translation, Navigation,
       Recommended Phone Apps, and
       What to Do Before Getting to China
</pre>

'''''This is useful info for people who want to travel in China''''' 
''It was created for people traveling on the [[NoisebridgeChinaTrip7|Hacker Trip To China]] in 2017, and has been updated for the [[NoisebridgeChinaTrip8|2018 edition]]''

= VPN, Internet, Blocked Websites, and SIM cards for your phone =

'''The Great Firewall of China''' 

As most people know, China censors its internet. The equipment that blocks some internet, and lets other internet through, is called a “Firewall”. There are ways around this, so that people in China (such as you!) can use any website that you like on your phone or laptop.

'''What is VPN?''' 

“VPN” is a means of securely connecting to other computers. It can be used to get around “The Great Firewall”.
 

Q: I have 10 proxies, 4 VPNs and Tor. Do I need this guide?

Yes: because there are times (anecdotally between 4pm and 11:30pm some days) where the international pipes are just too damn clogged! Relying on something overseas during those times ''may not help you.''

To give you a sense of the scale of the problem, tested from a random cafe in Beijing, connected to a 802.11AC network with good signal:

Speedtest.net to Beijing server gives 3ms/93.9Mbps(down)/18.2Mbps(up).
Speedtest.net to US gives 224ms/1.14Mbps(down)/3.4Mbps(up).

It's not just about finding a VPN technology, it's about finding a location with good throughput.

Also, Tor is blocked and China has an army of computer science graduates coming up with automated scripts to block your VPNs. Think about this before you assume it's not blocked.

Q. Do I need a SIM card / mobile internet for my phone on this trip? Can’t I use wifi?

I’m glad you asked. It is true that public wifi is available throughout China. However, it usually (not always) requires mainland phone number SMS identification. It is likely that you will have Internet at your hotel but may find it hard to get connected to wifi out and about. Also, for a group of this size, you need to be able to follow developments on the group WeChat and have access to GPS maps, or you will get left behind/lost very early!

Q: What doesn't work in China?

Gmail. YouTube. Dropbox. Google Search. Facebook. Line. Twitter. Facebook messenger, Whatsapp, many news sites.
Don't save your VPN passwords and flight details solely in Gmail or Dropbox.

Q: What does work in China that might surprise me?
:• Most Microsoft services, including Skype and Bing. Bing is your only option for English search. Skype is a great option for calls, China's mobile network is pretty high performance.
:• Teamviewer
:• Most Apple services work. Apple maps / iMessage works fine, App Store works and has local servers now. Apple News is blocked, even with a VPN, and iCloud services will work.


Q. Are there any tricks that will get me uncensored internet 100% of the time?


Yes! The big workaround is to get a roaming SIM card, because all SIM data traffic is tunneled to your country of origin, and you can browse websites like you are back home.


Q. Oh, you mean like Google Fi or my carrier's roaming packs?


Google Fi is one option, but it’s important to realize that it may not be the fastest/cheapest. For a start to remain competitive they have to negotiate the cheapest deal possible in each country, so you may end up on a throttled data connection instead of a premium service. Also, because all traffic is routed back to your provider, your latency may be very high, possibly interfering with using services such as Skype and WeChat voice calls.


Q. What is the better option?


The better option is to get a SIM card in Hong Kong that is owned by a mainland telecom provider, which routes traffic back to Hong Kong over their carrier owned (hopefully congestion free) pipes. Two such examples are China Unicom and China Mobile. Make sure you are getting a ''roaming to China'' SIM and not a Hong Kong ''ONLY'' sim.

More reading:
https://www.larrysalibra.com/hop-over-the-great-firewall-with-government-help/

There are also other "travel SIMs" that have been tailored for use in China. If it is marketed toward China specifically, then it is probably a good option. One example is the AIS Sim2Fly, but be aware that it may require in person identification in Thailand(!) to use. http://www.ais.co.th/roaming/sim2fly/landing_china.html


Q. Will any SIM work in my phone?


Not always. China has historically deployed different radio spectra to other countries (different even from Hong Kong, so just because your phone works when you arrive doesn’t mean it will work in China). In recent times, the situation has gotten better, with iPhone 6 and above and many android phones supporting LTE bands on China Mobile, and China Unicom also supports a wide range of bands (but gives worse service/value than China Mobile).


Please also check if your phone is unlocked by your carrier, as it is common for many phones sold under contract to be tied to a provider. Often if you call them before you leave for China they will unlock it for you for free.


Q. How do I tell which SIM card to get?


If your phone supports TDD-LTE, get China Mobile, else get China Unicom.
:1. Find out the model number of your phone eg "iPhone 6S: Model A1688"
:2. Google "A1688 bands” to find out what it supports
:3. If your phone supports (TD-LTE) Bands: 38, 39, 40, 41, you are good to go with China Mobile!
:4. Else, get China Unicom.
For more information see: http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/China


Q. Can you help me buy a SIM card?


Unfortunently not. We are entering through Beijing, and thus can't buy SIM cards from HK.


Q. What are the SIM cards that you recommend specifically? How much do they cost?


If your phone supports TDD-LTE,
China Mobile “CMHK 4G/3G Individual traveller Prepaid SIM Card"
It costs $68HKD($8.69 US) for the SIM, and $168 HKD ($21.48 USD) for each 2GB data pack.
''Make sure it matches the picture below'': it is likely that the cashier will get confused and try to sell you a HK-only local sim instead!

http://www.hk.chinamobile.com/en/corporate_information/Prepaid_SIM/inbound_tourists/4G3Gprepaid-services-individual.html


Before you leave HK and enter China, recharge it online using this website: https://1cm.hk.chinamobile.com/bill/prepaid-refill.html?lang=en and activate a 2GB China & Hong Kong Data Package for $168 HKD.


If your phone doesn’t support TDD-LTE, or you’re just not sure, you can get the China Unicom Cross Border King
https://www.cuniq.com/hk_en/data-card/great-china/cross-border-king-hkno.html
Sim Costs $138 HKD ($17.64 USD)
Data packages are $118 HKD ($15.09 USD) / 1 GB.

[[File:HK_SIM.jpg|400px]]
 


Q. Where to look for these two cards?


7/11, Circle K 👌 and market stalls selling SIM cards. ''Make sure the photo matches and you are not being given a HK-only-SIM!''


Q: What about getting a local (Chinese Mainland) SIM Card:


Yes, you can do that. but everything will be blocked, and you will need real name registration with your passport and possibly a few hours to set it up. The first time I tried to do this, I thought I was getting prepaid but accidentally signed up for a 24 month plan.. and now I can’t get another due to leaving the country and not making payments. 🤦‍♂️ I don’t recommend this option.


= Translation tips =

Q: How can I translate and talk to Chinese people?

There are several good options:
:1. Google Translate: but it only works if you have a VPN and or have downloaded the offline pack beforehand. If you are translating offline, the quality of translation may be much less. Does however have an extremely nifty live translate options, that works offline and is completely indispensable for translating restaurant menus!
:2. Bing Translate: Works in china, and automatically translates text from screenshots. Also has a Safari plugin that can translate websites.
:3. Baidu Translate: Chinese native translation app. Great for second-checking Google/Bing translate when you are confused. Has a great AI / machine learning team and actually rolled out machine learning translate before Google did.
:4. WeChat: You can translate conversations while you are chatting to people. A lot of Chinese know this, and will ask for your WeChat right away so they can talk to you.
:5. Chinese Keyboards: If possible, install Chinese keyboards/input methods on your phone. This is so a Chinese person can type their part of the conversation using your phone. You may need a few because everyone has their own preference, e.g. pinyin, stroke, and handwriting. For Android, download the "Google Pinyin Input" app -- this has several Chinese keyboards in one. For iOS, you can enable "Chinese - Simplified Handwriting", "Chinese - Simplified Pinyin", and "Chinese - Simplified Stroke" on your phone.

Q: I want to buy a banana in China, but I don’t speak any Chinese, how can I buy a banana?

Here is a picture of a Banana. Now you can show this picture and very soon you will have your very own banana. Seriously, Bing Images speaks 1000 Chinese words. You can use text translate all day, but a picture of the thing you want will always get faster results.

[[File:Bananas.png|200px]]
 

Q: Wait Bing images?

Yes, remember Google is blocked 🙃

= Navigation tips =

Know the subway exit closest to your accommodation. Have someone write it down for you in Chinese to show a taxi driver or subway staff. Also, get your hotel to write down in Chinese the name of the building and address and phone number, so you can show to a taxi driver.

Q: My VPN works fine 😀 Can I rely on Google Maps?

Google Maps in China offsets GPS locations by a random amount. Even with a VPN. You will get very lost using it. Also, the maps haven't been updated much since Google left China years ago. The directions they give you may or may not be correct, but the blue dot WILL be wrong.

Q. What about Apple Maps? Openstreetmaps?

Both of these work although may not be that detailed. Apple Maps has public transport directions (in English!) for some cities.

Q: How to get up to date public transport/walking directions?

Use Baidu Maps.

Q: Wait I downloaded Baidu Maps and it's all in Chinese. WTF?

Welcome to China. A tip I recommend is to take a screenshot and then use Microsoft Translator to understand what the functions are. But if you've used mapping apps before most of functions are the same. I recommend copy and pasting the Chinese address, or getting a Chinese person to type it in for you. For this you may need a few Chinese keyboards, as each person has their own preference of keyboard type.

Baidu Maps also has excellent public transport directions, including subway and buses. It takes a bit of back and forward between Bing Translate to understand what to do, see example screenshot below.

[[File:BaiduMapExample_composite.png|500px]]
 

Q: Why install a Chinese app? It's all too confusing.

So Chinese people can help you. So you can get up to date public transport. So you can navigate there in augmented reality mode. (really)... so you can hire bicycles to get you there... so you can save the whole map offline.

Q: Got any tips to save me battery / SIM Card data?
:1. Buy a powerbank. Almost easier to find than food in China.
:2. Because some services will be blocked, your phone might waste a lot of time trying to connect to things and fail. If it’s sensible, it will give up and not constantly retry. but if you get battery drain you can try turning off any push email and background app refresh for blocked services e.g. Facebook / Google Apps.
:3. Make sure you don’t have things like Camera Roll upload to Dropbox turned on for Cellular data!

Q: This is really weird. So what services do Chinese people use?

I’m glad you asked 😀. The Chinese Internet industry is flourishing, and Chinese use a wide range of locally developed apps.

I recommend checking out a top 100 list of apps such as the iTunes China App store rankings, but here are some examples: 
:Netease/Baidu/Kogou - like Spotify
:Alipay - Like Paypal, but can be used in real life to pay for anything including Metro tickets.
:Kwai - Funny videos
:didi - Like Uber, and available in English!
:iQiyi - Like Netflix
:Mobike - Share bikes
:Meitu - Beauty app, with live video transformations
:Dianping - Like foursquare/yelp, only been around longer and more organised.
:Bilibili / Youku - Social video platforms
:Taobao / Tmall / JD - Ebay, Amazon, etc
:Baidu Pan - Like Dropbox, only they give you 2TB for free..
:Baidu Maps / Amap - Like Google maps, but still has fierce competition for features.

= Which VPN should I use? =

Astrill has a long history of working in China.. why that is? 🤔 Well.. One could only speculate. You should set your expectation for any VPN service low, and not expect it to work at all times of the day. Make sure you buy it before you arrive in the mainland, and save the server list/app on your device.

I also use Lantern as a backup https://getlantern.org and I’ve heard good things about ExpressVPN.

= Before you come to China =

Get a VPN Account (eg, Astrill, ExpressVPN or Lantern)
Let Mitch know if you want a SIM card.

Download Apps:
WeChat (Chat)
Baidu Maps (Public transport directions)
Bing Translate
Baidu Translate
Skype (cheap landline or Internet calls back home, not blocked by firewall)
Google Translate (English —> Chinese) && (Chinese —> English) Offline translation pack
For Android, install Google Pinyin Input
For iPhone, enable Chinese keyboards/input methods (eg at least pinyin / handwriting / stroke),    which you can do this in your phone language settings.

== Tell your bank before you leave that you are travelling to China ==
If you rely on your local phone number for SMS 2FA (Banking, iCloud, Finance, etc), then either

== Tell your phone provider you are travelling to China ==
Get them to turn on international roaming and bring a spare phone with your SIM. 
       OR
Get the 2FA codes disabled while you are in China. 
Turn OFF data roaming before you arrive, unless you are only using a local SIM in your phone.
Be aware of which of your bank cards are going to charge you an international transaction fee and/or a ATM withdrawal fee. (Charles Schwab charges neither) If you can’t avoid fees, then make sure you do big ATM cash withdrawals each time to reduce ATM fees.

== I'm too busy, can't I just get it all when I get to China? ==

Yes, but..
:• Google Play Store is completely blocked in China. So either you will be downloading apps at a very slow speed over a VPN or downloading random .apks from untrusted sources
:• iPhones are easier, but hotel wifi is universally shitty and you will still be lost the first few days before you install everything
:• Banks and phone companies might not want to talk to you once you leave the country.

== Data usage tips ==

Tips to reduce the amount of mobile data your phone uses:
:• Turn off any automated uploading of photos (on mobile data)
:• Dropbox
:• iCloud Photo Library (turn off unlimited updates, and Mobile Data)
:• Google Photos
:• Turn off background updating of apps
:• On iOS, set Background App Refresh to "Wifi"
:• If you use podcasting apps, make sure they only update on Wifi.
:• iCloud Drive / Google Drive
:• Caching data offline
:• Baidu Maps has an offline cached map available for every city. You can choose each city in the settings. It's an incredible detailed map and strongly recommended, even if it is in chinese.
:• Google Translate has offline translate packs, that are needed for real-time translate.
:• On Mac, there is a utility called Tripmode, which will allow you to disable apps when connected to tethered data. https://www.tripmode.ch

== Going down internet rabbit holes... ==

Q: China is gonna pwn my phone and spy on me. I'm scared 😰

Yep, could happen. Also, the NSA is already spying on you (PRISM). And the UK (Tempura). And Canada.. and Australia..(Five Eyes). and Russia.. and who knows who else.

So set your paranoia level accordingly. You want to come with a fresh phone? Go right ahead. But just remember that the internet is global, you can get hacked in any country, and most of your phones parts probably originated in China anyway…
Don’t be so scared that you spend your whole trip lost using a feature phone..

Sensible preparations include making sure you are running the latest version of your OS and apps, and having backups of everything you take with you. Changing passwords regularly or after your trip is also a sensible thing to do.

Q: I don’t trust Astrill, I wanna set up my own VPN.-

Straight OpenVPN is likely to get blocked after working for a few minutes, OpenVPN with obfsproxy less so, and any protocols that big businesses use are more likely to work, eg PPTP / Cisco Anyconnect / L2TP.
Also worth looking at projects that script an install for you onto a VPS, such as https://github.com/madbuda/brasscrow

Running a public Tor on your server at home will get the entire IP blocked the first time you use it.

Q. Can I just use SSH tunnels? Surely China won’t block SSH..

You can use SSH interactively, but when you start to transfer data through it, the packet loss goes through the roof until you restart the session. See for example: http://blog.zorinaq.com/my-experience-with-the-great-firewall-of-china/

Q: My VPN stopped working and now my internet is really slow.. Are they on to me? 😬

It’s probably just slow for everyone. VPNs aren’t illegal in China, but they do have automated processes for blocking them. Just because they blocked your server doesn’t mean they are targeting you.

Q. Can I use Teamviewer?

Yes….

Q. Can I watch Netflix?

Not unless you are really lucky. Streaming speeds are really bad over VPNs.


Q. What should I do next?


Answer questions in the email Mitch sent to the group about your phone and getting SIM cards for you.

HTTC Internet Tips

2018-10-29T03:13:16Z

Noah: Added some tips about data usage, updated blocked services.

<pre style="color: black; font-size:xx-large;">
Guide
to Chinese Internet & Phones,
       Translation, Navigation,
       Recommended Phone Apps, and
       What to Do Before Getting to China
</pre>

'''''This is useful info for people who want to travel in China''''' 
''It was created for people traveling on the [[NoisebridgeChinaTrip7|Hacker Trip To China]] in 2017, and has been updated for the [[NoisebridgeChinaTrip8|2018 edition]]''

= VPN, Internet, Blocked Websites, and SIM cards for your phone =

'''The Great Firewall of China''' 

As most people know, China censors its internet. The equipment that blocks some internet, and lets other internet through, is called a “Firewall”. There are ways around this, so that people in China (such as you!) can use any website that you like on your phone or laptop.

'''What is VPN?''' 

“VPN” is a means of securely connecting to other computers. It can be used to get around “The Great Firewall”.
 

Q: I have 10 proxies, 4 VPNs and Tor. Do I need this guide?

Yes: because there are times (anecdotally between 4pm and 11:30pm some days) where the international pipes are just too damn clogged! Relying on something overseas during those times ''may not help you.''

To give you a sense of the scale of the problem, tested from a random cafe in Beijing, connected to a 802.11AC network with good signal:

Speedtest.net to Beijing server gives 3ms/93.9Mbps(down)/18.2Mbps(up).
Speedtest.net to US gives 224ms/1.14Mbps(down)/3.4Mbps(up).

It's not just about finding a VPN technology, it's about finding a location with good throughput.

Also, Tor is blocked and China has an army of computer science graduates coming up with automated scripts to block your VPNs. Think about this before you assume it's not blocked.

Q. Do I need a SIM card / mobile internet for my phone on this trip? Can’t I use wifi?

I’m glad you asked. It is true that public wifi is available throughout China. However, it usually (not always) requires mainland phone number SMS identification. It is likely that you will have Internet at your hotel but may find it hard to get connected to wifi out and about. Also, for a group of this size, you need to be able to follow developments on the group WeChat and have access to GPS maps, or you will get left behind/lost very early!

Q: What doesn't work in China?

Gmail. YouTube. Dropbox. Google Search. Facebook. Line. Twitter. Facebook messenger, Whatsapp, many news sites.
Don't save your VPN passwords and flight details solely in Gmail or Dropbox.

Q: What does work in China that might surprise me?
:• Most Microsoft services, including Skype and Bing. Bing is your only option for English search. Skype is a great option for calls, China's mobile network is pretty high performance.
:• Teamviewer
:• Most Apple services work. Apple maps / iMessage works fine, App Store works and has local servers now. Apple News is blocked, even with a VPN, and iCloud services will work.


Q. Are there any tricks that will get me uncensored internet 100% of the time?


Yes! The big workaround is to get a roaming SIM card, because all SIM data traffic is tunneled to your country of origin, and you can browse websites like you are back home.


Q. Oh, you mean like Google Fi or my carrier's roaming packs?


Google Fi is one option, but it’s important to realize that it may not be the fastest/cheapest. For a start to remain competitive they have to negotiate the cheapest deal possible in each country, so you may end up on a throttled data connection instead of a premium service. Also, because all traffic is routed back to your provider, your latency may be very high, possibly interfering with using services such as Skype and WeChat voice calls.


Q. What is the better option?


The better option is to get a SIM card in Hong Kong that is owned by a mainland telecom provider, which routes traffic back to Hong Kong over their carrier owned (hopefully congestion free) pipes. Two such examples are China Unicom and China Mobile. Make sure you are getting a ''roaming to China'' SIM and not a Hong Kong ''ONLY'' sim.

More reading:
https://www.larrysalibra.com/hop-over-the-great-firewall-with-government-help/

There are also other "travel SIMs" that have been tailored for use in China. If it is marketed toward China specifically, then it is probably a good option. One example is the AIS Sim2Fly, but be aware that it may require in person identification in Thailand(!) to use. http://www.ais.co.th/roaming/sim2fly/landing_china.html


Q. Will any SIM work in my phone?


Not always. China has historically deployed different radio spectra to other countries (different even from Hong Kong, so just because your phone works when you arrive doesn’t mean it will work in China). In recent times, the situation has gotten better, with iPhone 6 and above and many android phones supporting LTE bands on China Mobile, and China Unicom also supports a wide range of bands (but gives worse service/value than China Mobile).


Please also check if your phone is unlocked by your carrier, as it is common for many phones sold under contract to be tied to a provider. Often if you call them before you leave for China they will unlock it for you for free.


Q. How do I tell which SIM card to get?


If your phone supports TDD-LTE, get China Mobile, else get China Unicom.
:1. Find out the model number of your phone eg "iPhone 6S: Model A1688"
:2. Google "A1688 bands” to find out what it supports
:3. If your phone supports (TD-LTE) Bands: 38, 39, 40, 41, you are good to go with China Mobile!
:4. Else, get China Unicom.
For more information see: http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/China


Q. Can you help me buy a SIM card?


Unfortunently not. We are entering through Beijing, and thus can't buy SIM cards from HK.


Q. What are the SIM cards that you recommend specifically? How much do they cost?


If your phone supports TDD-LTE,
China Mobile “CMHK 4G/3G Individual traveller Prepaid SIM Card"
It costs $68HKD($8.69 US) for the SIM, and $168 HKD ($21.48 USD) for each 2GB data pack.
''Make sure it matches the picture below'': it is likely that the cashier will get confused and try to sell you a HK-only local sim instead!

http://www.hk.chinamobile.com/en/corporate_information/Prepaid_SIM/inbound_tourists/4G3Gprepaid-services-individual.html


Before you leave HK and enter China, recharge it online using this website: https://1cm.hk.chinamobile.com/bill/prepaid-refill.html?lang=en and activate a 2GB China & Hong Kong Data Package for $168 HKD.


If your phone doesn’t support TDD-LTE, or you’re just not sure, you can get the China Unicom Cross Border King
https://www.cuniq.com/hk_en/data-card/great-china/cross-border-king-hkno.html
Sim Costs $138 HKD ($17.64 USD)
Data packages are $118 HKD ($15.09 USD) / 1 GB.

[[File:HK_SIM.jpg|400px]]
 


Q. Where to look for these two cards?


7/11, Circle K 👌 and market stalls selling SIM cards. ''Make sure the photo matches and you are not being given a HK-only-SIM!''


Q: What about getting a local (Chinese Mainland) SIM Card:


Yes, you can do that. but everything will be blocked, and you will need real name registration with your passport and possibly a few hours to set it up. The first time I tried to do this, I thought I was getting prepaid but accidentally signed up for a 24 month plan.. and now I can’t get another due to leaving the country and not making payments. 🤦‍♂️ I don’t recommend this option.


= Translation tips =

Q: How can I translate and talk to Chinese people?

There are several good options:
:1. Google Translate: but it only works if you have a VPN and or have downloaded the offline pack beforehand. If you are translating offline, the quality of translation may be much less. Does however have an extremely nifty live translate options, that works offline and is completely indispensable for translating restaurant menus!
:2. Bing Translate: Works in china, and automatically translates text from screenshots. Also has a Safari plugin that can translate websites.
:3. Baidu Translate: Chinese native translation app. Great for second-checking Google/Bing translate when you are confused. Has a great AI / machine learning team and actually rolled out machine learning translate before Google did.
:4. WeChat: You can translate conversations while you are chatting to people. A lot of Chinese know this, and will ask for your WeChat right away so they can talk to you.
:5. Chinese Keyboards: If possible, install Chinese keyboards/input methods on your phone. This is so a Chinese person can type their part of the conversation using your phone. You may need a few because everyone has their own preference, e.g. pinyin, stroke, and handwriting. For Android, download the "Google Pinyin Input" app -- this has several Chinese keyboards in one. For iOS, you can enable "Chinese - Simplified Handwriting", "Chinese - Simplified Pinyin", and "Chinese - Simplified Stroke" on your phone.

Q: I want to buy a banana in China, but I don’t speak any Chinese, how can I buy a banana?

Here is a picture of a Banana. Now you can show this picture and very soon you will have your very own banana. Seriously, Bing Images speaks 1000 Chinese words. You can use text translate all day, but a picture of the thing you want will always get faster results.

[[File:Bananas.png|200px]]
 

Q: Wait Bing images?

Yes, remember Google is blocked 🙃

= Navigation tips =

Know the subway exit closest to your accommodation. Have someone write it down for you in Chinese to show a taxi driver or subway staff. Also, get your hotel to write down in Chinese the name of the building and address and phone number, so you can show to a taxi driver.

Q: My VPN works fine 😀 Can I rely on Google Maps?

Google Maps in China offsets GPS locations by a random amount. Even with a VPN. You will get very lost using it. Also, the maps haven't been updated much since Google left China years ago. The directions they give you may or may not be correct, but the blue dot WILL be wrong.

Q. What about Apple Maps? Openstreetmaps?

Both of these work although may not be that detailed. Apple Maps has public transport directions (in English!) for some cities.

Q: How to get up to date public transport/walking directions?

Use Baidu Maps.

Q: Wait I downloaded Baidu Maps and it's all in Chinese. WTF?

Welcome to China. A tip I recommend is to take a screenshot and then use Microsoft Translator to understand what the functions are. But if you've used mapping apps before most of functions are the same. I recommend copy and pasting the Chinese address, or getting a Chinese person to type it in for you. For this you may need a few Chinese keyboards, as each person has their own preference of keyboard type.

Baidu Maps also has excellent public transport directions, including subway and buses. It takes a bit of back and forward between Bing Translate to understand what to do, see example screenshot below.

[[File:BaiduMapExample_composite.png|500px]]
 

Q: Why install a Chinese app? It's all too confusing.

So Chinese people can help you. So you can get up to date public transport. So you can navigate there in augmented reality mode. (really)... so you can hire bicycles to get you there... so you can save the whole map offline.

Q: Got any tips to save me battery / SIM Card data?
:1. Buy a powerbank. Almost easier to find than food in China.
:2. Because some services will be blocked, your phone might waste a lot of time trying to connect to things and fail. If it’s sensible, it will give up and not constantly retry. but if you get battery drain you can try turning off any push email and background app refresh for blocked services e.g. Facebook / Google Apps.
:3. Make sure you don’t have things like Camera Roll upload to Dropbox turned on for Cellular data!

Q: This is really weird. So what services do Chinese people use?

I’m glad you asked 😀. The Chinese Internet industry is flourishing, and Chinese use a wide range of locally developed apps.

I recommend checking out a top 100 list of apps such as the iTunes China App store rankings, but here are some examples: 
:Netease/Baidu/Kogou - like Spotify
:Alipay - Like Paypal, but can be used in real life to pay for anything including Metro tickets.
:Kwai - Funny videos
:didi - Like Uber, and available in English!
:iQiyi - Like Netflix
:Mobike - Share bikes
:Meitu - Beauty app, with live video transformations
:Dianping - Like foursquare/yelp, only been around longer and more organised.
:Bilibili / Youku - Social video platforms
:Taobao / Tmall / JD - Ebay, Amazon, etc
:Baidu Pan - Like Dropbox, only they give you 2TB for free..
:Baidu Maps / Amap - Like Google maps, but still has fierce competition for features.

= Which VPN should I use? =

Astrill has a long history of working in China.. why that is? 🤔 Well.. One could only speculate. You should set your expectation for any VPN service low, and not expect it to work at all times of the day. Make sure you buy it before you arrive in the mainland, and save the server list/app on your device.

I also use Lantern as a backup https://getlantern.org and I’ve heard good things about ExpressVPN.

= Before you come to China =

Get a VPN Account (eg, Astrill, ExpressVPN or Lantern)
Let Mitch know if you want a SIM card.

Download Apps:
WeChat (Chat)
Baidu Maps (Public transport directions)
Bing Translate
Baidu Translate
Skype (cheap landline or Internet calls back home, not blocked by firewall)
Google Translate (English —> Chinese) && (Chinese —> English) Offline translation pack
For Android, install Google Pinyin Input
For iPhone, enable Chinese keyboards/input methods (eg at least pinyin / handwriting / stroke),    which you can do this in your phone language settings.

== Tell your bank before you leave that you are travelling to China ==
If you rely on your local phone number for SMS 2FA (Banking, iCloud, Finance, etc), then either

== Tell your phone provider you are travelling to China ==
Get them to turn on international roaming and bring a spare phone with your SIM. 
       OR
Get the 2FA codes disabled while you are in China. 
Turn OFF data roaming before you arrive, unless you are only using a local SIM in your phone.
Be aware of which of your bank cards are going to charge you an international transaction fee and/or a ATM withdrawal fee. (Charles Schwab charges neither) If you can’t avoid fees, then make sure you do big ATM cash withdrawals each time to reduce ATM fees.

== I'm too busy, can't I just get it all when I get to China? ==

Yes, but..
:• Google Play Store is completely blocked in China. So either you will be downloading apps at a very slow speed over a VPN or downloading random .apks from untrusted sources
:• iPhones are easier, but hotel wifi is universally shitty and you will still be lost the first few days before you install everything
:• Banks and phone companies might not want to talk to you once you leave the country.

== Data usage tips ==

Tips to reduce the amount of mobile data your phone uses:
:• Turn off any automated uploading of photos (on mobile data)
:• Dropbox
:• iCloud Photo Library (turn off unlimited updates, and Mobile Data)
:• Google Photos
:• Turn off background updating of apps
:• On iOS, set Background App Refresh to "Wifi"
:• If you use podcasting apps, make sure they only update on Wifi.
:• iCloud Drive / Google Drive
:• Caching data offline
:• Baidu Maps has an offline cached map available for every city. You can choose each city in the settings. It's an incredible detailed map and strongly recommended, even if it is in chinese.
:• Google Translate has offline translate packs, that are needed for real-time translate.
:• On Mac, there is a utility called Tripmode, which will allow you to disable apps when connected to tethered data. https://www.tripmode.ch

== Going down internet rabbit holes... ==

Q: China is gonna pwn my phone and spy on me. I'm scared 😰

Yep, could happen. Also, the NSA is already spying on you (PRISM). And the UK (Tempura). And Canada.. and Australia..(Five Eyes). and Russia.. and who knows who else.

So set your paranoia level accordingly. You want to come with a fresh phone? Go right ahead. But just remember that the internet is global, you can get hacked in any country, and most of your phones parts probably originated in China anyway…
Don’t be so scared that you spend your whole trip lost using a feature phone..

Sensible preparations include making sure you are running the latest version of your OS and apps, and having backups of everything you take with you. Changing passwords regularly or after your trip is also a sensible thing to do.

Q: I don’t trust Astrill, I wanna set up my own VPN.-

Straight OpenVPN is likely to get blocked after working for a few minutes, OpenVPN with obfsproxy less so, and any protocols that big businesses use are more likely to work, eg PPTP / Cisco Anyconnect / L2TP.
Also worth looking at projects that script an install for you onto a VPS, such as https://github.com/madbuda/brasscrow

Running a public Tor on your server at home will get the entire IP blocked the first time you use it.

Q. Can I just use SSH tunnels? Surely China won’t block SSH..

You can use SSH interactively, but when you start to transfer data through it, the packet loss goes through the roof until you restart the session. See for example: http://blog.zorinaq.com/my-experience-with-the-great-firewall-of-china/

Q: My VPN stopped working and now my internet is really slow.. Are they on to me? 😬

It’s probably just slow for everyone. VPNs aren’t illegal in China, but they do have automated processes for blocking them. Just because they blocked your server doesn’t mean they are targeting you.

Q. Can I use Teamviewer?

Yes….

Q. Can I watch Netflix?

Not unless you are really lucky. Streaming speeds are really bad over VPNs.


Q. What should I do next?


Answer questions in the email Mitch sent to the group about your phone and getting SIM cards for you.

NoisebridgeChinaTrip8

2018-07-31T02:06:45Z

Noah: /* People interested in going on the Hacker Trip to China #8, 2018: */

= NOISEBRIDGE HACKER TRIP TO CHINA #8 -- Start Date: 3-November-2018, in Beijing -- End Date: 23-November-2018, in Shenzhen=

[[File:HTTC2014WelcomeHackers.jpg|thumb|right|Trip #4 Welcome to China!, Beijing]]

[[File:KungFuHacking_Nov_2013.jpg|thumb|right|Trip #3 Kung Fu Hacking: Hackers In Residence Kickoff event at Tsinghua University, Beijing]]

[[File:petrochemical_university.jpg|thumb|right|Trip #2 Visit to Petrochemical Univeristy, Beijing]]

[[File:Beijing_Oct_2009.jpg|thumb|right|Trip #1 Jingshan Park, Beijing]]

[[File:Shenzhen_Oct_2016.jpg|thumb|right|Trip #5 Visit to Seeed Studio's factory, Shenzhen]]

[[File:Zhenzhou_Oct_2016.jpg|thumb|right|Trip #5 Presentations at Zhengzhou High School #2, Zhengzhou]]
 
 
      ''The start and end dates and cities for this year's Hacker Trip To China are now set!'' 
            '''Start: 3-November-2018, in Beijing''' 
            '''End: 23-November-2018, in Shenzhen''' 
 

'''If you want to be part of this years Hacker Trip To China,''' 
                  
                  
                  
                  
'''it is time to purchase your plane tickets!'''

 
'''It is also time to book your hotel in Beijing!''' 
Please email Mitch for details: 
       ''mitch *AT* CornfieldElectronics *DOT* com''
 
== Previous Hacker Trips To China ==
::''This will be the 8th Noisebridge Hacker Trip To China.'' 
::'''''(Though the start and end dates are now set, and the start and end cities are now set, the rest of the itinerary is only an outline and open to change.)'''''
 
::''In previous years' Hacker Trips To China, we've visited cities that currently have a hackerspace, visited my manufacturer, Seeed Studio, and other manufacturers. We also visited Tsinghua University, considered the most prestigious university in China, and other schools -- all of which have now started hackerspaces. China continues to explode with hackerspaces! We also went to the International Exhibition of Inventions Kunshan (IEIK 2014), near Shanghai. We've also gone to Maker Faires and similar events in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. And everywhere we went, we were shown around by local geeks, to see what they thought was interesting where they live.''

::''Wherever we went, those of us interested gave talks, presentations, workshops, and demos. In 2017 we gave presentations at: Maker Bay and Dim Sum Labs in Hong Kong; at HAX, x.Factory, and Lab0x0 in Shenzhen; at Niba Makerspace and for the mayor of Xi'an in Xi'an; at Tsinghua University's iCenter and Beijing LUG in Beijing, and at DFRobot (an open hardware company in Shanghai), Mushroom Cloud, and XinCheJian hackerspcae in Shanghai.'' 

::''You can see info from the previous Trips: 
::''[[ChinaTrip|Hacker Trip To China 2009]]'' 
::''[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip2|Hacker Trip To China 2011]]'' 
::''[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip3|Hacker Trip To China 2013]]'' 
::''[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip4|Hacker Trip To China 2014]]'' 
::''[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip5|Hacker Trip To China 2015]]'' 
::''[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip6|Hacker Trip To China 2016]]'' 
::''[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip7|Hacker Trip To China 2017]]'' 

::-- [[User:Maltman23|Mitch]].

== This year's Hacker Trip To China ==
'''When: 3-Nov in Beijing''' 
                  through 
            '''23-Nov in Shenzhen'''.

'''Flight, transportation, and hotel Info''': It is up to each person to book your own air fare to meet in our starting city, Beijing, on 3-November (which probably means leaving your home on 2-November), and to fly home from our ending city, Shenzhen, on 23-November. ''(Of course, you can decide to come before or after our start date, and leave before or after our end date -- you are free to come and go as you please -- some of us will spend a few days in Hong Kong after Shenzhen.)'' 

I'll organized the itinerary and the hotels and other transport. I'll pay in advance for some of this, and you can pay me back when we're in China. 

'''Where:''' In each of the cities we will go to, we'll visit some of their local hackerspace(s), and will be shown around by local geeks to see what interests them where they live. We'll also have plenty of time to do "normal" (and spectacular) tourist things too! 

'''NOTE THAT THE INFO BELOW IS ONLY A BRIEF POSSIBLE OUTLINE:''' 
'''Here's some possible places we might visit, leaving plenty of room for the serendipity that makes our Hacker Trip To China truly unique and memorable:''' 
* We will start our trip by meeting in '''Beijing''' where we may visit [http://www.bjmakerspace.com/ Beijing Makerspace], and other hackerspaces. We'll also visit Tsinghua University, where they built the "world's largest hackerspace" in 2015 (called the "iCenter"), and where I've been hacker in residence. Beijing has lots and lots of way amazing stuff to visit and be a part of!
* We will probably next go to '''Xi'an''', where we will be shown some of the extensive activity to encourage "innovation" there. We can give presentations at [http://www.nibaspace.com/index/ Niba Makerspace], where lots of way cool and interesting things are happening. Our hosts will also show us lots of local arts and cultural activities, as well as give us a tour of the 10,000 Terracotta Warriors.
* We may go to '''Chengdu''' from there, home of the panda bears, as well as another new Chinese "innovation" hub.
* We may then visit '''Shanghai'''. In Shanghai we will visit [http://www.etonnet.com/ my manufacturer (Etonnet)] that I have used for [http://www.tvbgone.com TV-B-Gone] remote controls and [http://www.neurodreamer.com NeuroDreamer] sleep masks, where we will all get to see how products are made, from start to finish, learning how manufacturing works. We will also visit [http://xinchejian.com/ XinCheJian] hackerspace in Shanghai, the coolest hackerspace in all of China. We can also visit companies started by hardware hacker geeks, such as [http://www.dfrobot.com/ DFRobot]. We can also visit the [http://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/4064240200/in/set-72157622640069902/ Shanghai electronics mall] (a smaller version of the famous electronics mall we will later visit in Shenzhen).
* We'll finish our Trip in '''Shenzhen''', where we can visit [http://www.chaihuo.org/ Chaihuo Makerspace], [http://www.szdiy.org/ SZDIY] hackerspace, and a few other hackerspaces, some of which are real, and hundreds of which are new over-the-top bizarre government-started places where they want to create "the next Apple" (we won't visit them all!). We can visit [http://www.chaihuo.org/xfactory/ x.factory] while we are in town, an interesting mix of hackerspace and incubator, where we can organize a Bring-A-Hack event, where anyone of us (for those who want to), along with the general public, can show off our projects. We will also visit [http://www.seeedstudio.com Seeed Studio] - the open source hardware company - to meet the cool folks there and to see their manufacturing facilities. We may meet with the founders of [http://dangerousprototypes.com/ Dangerous Prototypes] - another open source hardware company. We'll also visit other manufacturers, to see where all the things we use in our daily lives come from (such as springs, cables, PCBs, packaging, etc., etc.). We can also visit [http://www.dorabot.com/ Dorabot], a Chinese robotics company comprised of people in the Shenzhen hackerspace scene. We may also visit [https://hax.co/ HAX], the first and biggest hardware accelerator (and where I'm a mentor) -- those who wanted to gave presentations at HAX last year. Of course, we'll also visit the famous (and totally awesome!) [http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/shenzhen/print Huaqiangbei electronics market] in Shenzhen (where, we may again be shown around by famous hackers who really know the place well). If the timing works out, we will go to the [http://www.shenzhenmakerfaire.com/ Shenzhen Maker Faire]. 

For most of us, our trip will end at the end of three weeks, as many people on our trip will fly home from our last city, Shenzhen, on 23-November. But, since '''Hong Kong''' is just over the border from mainland China, some of us will go there to fly home (since it is cheaper, and since Hong Kong is a way cool city).

''Of course, everyone is free to arrive and leave whenever you like for the Hacker Trip To China. 

'''Cost:''' For the Hacker Trip To China 2017, I paid $2,656 total (for 4 weeks, since I stayed longer than the Trip), including air fare from SF, food, lodging, transportation, a new smart phone, a bunch of new clothing, and everything. 
''As in past years, part of this year's trip may be paid for by Tsinghua University, our hosts in Xi'an, and other hosts that invite us to give presentations.''

'''#hashtag:''' [https://twitter.com/hashtag/httc2018 #httc2018]      (Hacker Trip To China 2018)

 
 

== Itinerary outline for Hacker Trip to China 8 ==

'''NOTE: THE FOLLOWING INFO IS ONLY A POSSIBLE OUTLINE'''

'''The start and end dates are set, the start and end cities are set, but the rest of the itinerary is open to serendipity:'''
''2-November-2017 -- '''Leave home''' for '''Beijing''' (arrive in Beijing on 3-November)''
''3-November-2017 -- We all meet in '''Beijing''' -- hotel: various -- [https://www.booking.com/hotel/cn/hyde-hotel.en-gb.html in an around Hyde Courtyard Hotel]
'''3-November to 9-November -- Beijing'''
3-November, 8pm: Group dinner
5-October, 1pm: Bring A Hack at [http://moonshotacademy.cn/ Moonshot Acadamy]
''9-November -- train to Xi'an''
'''9-November to 13-November -- Xi'an'''
''13-November -- train to Chengdu''
'''13-November to 15-November -- Chengdu'''
''15-November -- train to Shanghai''
'''15-November to 18-November -- Shanghai'''
''18-November -- train to Shenzhen''
'''18-November to 23-November -- Shenzhen''' ''
''23-November -- '''fly home''' (arrive NA or EU on same day)''

'''After Shenzhen some people may go to Hong Kong for a few days''' ''

== Very Useful Guide about Internet, Phones, Translation, and Navigation ==
Here is [[Noahs_Guide|a very useful guide]] about internet in China, phones in China, translating Chinese, and navigation in China! This was written in 2017, and should all still be relevant for this year.

== Hong Kong Guide ==
[[Hong Kong Guide]]

 
 
 
 
 

== Photos from Hacker Trip To China 2017==
<gallery>
File:HTTC2017HongKong.jpg
File:HTTC2017Shenzhen.jpg
File:HTTC2017Xian.jpg
File:HTTC2017Beijing.jpg
File:HTTC2017Shanghai.jpg
File:HTTC2017Beijing2.jpg
</gallery>

Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157665928352469/ Hong Kong, Oct-2017] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157665929390189/ Shenzhen, Oct-2017] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157688052606231/ Xi'an, Oct-2017] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157688052837801/ Beijing, Oct-2017] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157687009709482/ Shanghai, Oct-2017] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157688893716634/ Beijing Set 2, Oct-2017] 


[https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/collections/72157665931188619/ Mitch's photos for HTTC 2017 all in one place]


 
 
 
 

== Photos from Hacker Trip To China 2016==
<gallery>
File:HTTC2016Shanghai.jpg
File:HTTC2016Zhenzhou.jpg
File:HTTC2016Shenzhen.jpg
File:HTTC2016Beijing.jpg
File:HTTC2016Hangzhou.jpg
File:HTTC2016Beijing2.jpg
</gallery>

Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157672475058474/ Shanghai, Oct-2016] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157674645655612/ Zhengzhou, Oct-2016] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157676024748146/ Shenzhen, Oct-2016] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157676142107066/ Beijing, Oct-2016] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157676144570756/ Hangzhou, Oct-2016] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157672603805234/ Beijing Set 2, Oct-2016] 


[https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/collections/72157674928976010/ Mitch's photos for HTTC 2016 all in one place]


 
 
 
 

== Photos from Hacker Trip to China 2015==
<gallery>
File:HTTC2015HongKongNeon.jpg
File:HTTC2015ShenzhenFactory.jpg
File:HTTC2015ShanghaiTempleMall.jpg
File:HTTC2015BeijingDoor.jpg
File:HTTC2015HangzhouTemple.jpg
File:HTTC2015BeijingShop.jpg
File:HTTC2015SuzhouUmbrellas.jpg
</gallery>

Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157659076735178 Hong Kong, Oct-2015] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157660026965949 Shenzhen, Oct-2015] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157660038275888 Shanghai, Oct-2015] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157658114137264 Beijing, Oct-2015] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/albums/72157660424228042 YiWu & Hangzhou, Oct-2015] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/albums/72157660650175925 Beijing Set 2, Oct-2015] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/albums/72157658310336814 Shanghai & Suzhou, Oct-2015] 


[https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/collections/72157660374807166/ Mitch's photos for HTTC 2015 all in one place]


 
[https://picasaweb.google.com/dtharn/ChinaInOctober2015?feat=directlink Dave's photos]

 
Blake's photos:
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/cwlcks/sets/72157662429341996 Hong Kong!]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/cwlcks/albums/72157660150285384 Shenzen!]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/cwlcks/albums/72157661790873029 Shanghai!]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/cwlcks/albums/72157660153522904 Beijing!]
 

Torrey's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/gp/torrey/Q840rT Hong Kong] 
Torrey's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/gp/torrey/yLo903 Shenzhen] 
Torrey's photos from [https://flic.kr/s/aHskqNiQeX Beijing] 
Torrey's photos from [https://flic.kr/s/aHskrE55NX Shanghai] 

 
 
 
 

== Photos from Hacker Trip to China 2014==
<gallery>
File:HTTC2014WelcomeHackers.jpg
File:HTTC20143Nod_b.jpg
File:HTTC2014AiWeiWei.jpg
File:HTTC2014BeijingLGBTcentre.jpg
File:HTTC2014Brooms.jpg
File:HTTC2014CableFactory.jpg
File:HTTC2014ChaiHuo.jpg
File:HTTC2014GiantSewing.jpg
File:HTTC2014Huaqianbei.jpg
File:HTTC2014IEIK2014.jpg
File:HTTC2014SeeedStudio.jpg
File:HTTC2014Shanghai.jpg
File:HTTC2014Tianjin.jpg
File:HTTC2014Tienanmen.jpg
File:HTTC2014TrainConvenienceStore.jpg
File:HTTC2014TsinghuaMakersDay.jpg
File:HTTC20143Nod.jpg
File:HTTC2014XinCheJian.jpg
</gallery>

Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157646894397704/ Beijing, Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157648975298719/ Shanghai, Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157648981933060/ Shenzhen, Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157649396351315/ Kunshan, Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157649148594118/ Shanghai (2), Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157649146775640/ Beijing (2), Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157649146987360/ Tianjin, Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157647372474753/ Beijing (3), Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157649287546450/ Singapore, Dec-2014] 


[https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/collections/72157649162773126/ Mitch's photos for HTTC 2014 all in one place]


 
 
 
 

== You will Need a Chinese Visa!! ==
To go to China, you needed to get a visa!

Everyone should get a multiple-entry Tourist L visa (if you only get a single-entry visa, you'll be fine, but you won't have as many options, such as going in and out of Shenzhen to Hong Kong).

* And to get a visa, you need to have a passport that is valid ''at least'' 12 months after you planned to fly away from China (so, e.g., if you are leaving China on 23-November-2018, then your passport needs to be valid through 22-November-2019). Your passport must also have at least ''one entirely blank page''.

* You also need:
** a printout of a filled-out [http://www.chinaconsulatesf.org/chn/qianzhen/zgqz/P020130828366275572026.pdf Visa Application Form V. 2013 of the People's Republic of China]. (If you like, please email me, and I can reply with my filled out visa form from 2015, so you have an example to follow).
** a copy of the information pages of your passport.
** a copy of your most recent Chinese visa (if you have been to China before).
** one 2"x2" recent color photo (not a printout).
** a screenshot or printout of hotel reservation confirmation (I'll email this to you when I have this).
** a copy of your airline tickets (both to and from China).

* For US citizens, the visa cost $140 (but it is much cheaper for other nationalities). Starting in 2015, US citizens can get a multiple-entry visa, good for 10 years (even though there is no option for this on the visa form). We should all apply for a Tourist L visa.

You can pay the fee by Visa, MasterCard, Money Order, Cashier's Check or Company Check. ''Cash or Personal checks are not acceptable.''

To get a visa, you can go to your local Chinese consulate. No appointment is required. You go in one day, and it will be ready for pick up 4 business days later. My experience is that it takes about an hour the first day, and takes only a few minutes to pick up the visa a few days later. (2 to 3 business-day and 1 business day/same-day express service is available for $20 or $30.) 
''NOTE: The Chinese consulates are all closed for Chinese holidays! Please check the dates! For 2018 these dates are: 1-January, 15-January, 15-16 February, 28-May, 19-June, 4-July, 3-September, 1-October, 8-October, 12-November, 22-23 November, and 24-25-December: 
[https://www.travelchinaguide.com/embassy/us/sanfrancisco.htm 2018 San Francisco Chinese Consulate Holiday Schedule]''
 
(Citizens of US and Europe ''do not'' need a separate visa for Hong Kong.)
 

= Previous Noisebridge China Trips =
''If you're curious about the previous Noisebridge China Trips, they have their own wiki pages:'' 
[[ChinaTrip|Hacker Trip To China 2009]] 
          That first Noisebridge China Trip was inspired by Bunny Huang's [http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/shenzhen/print "geek tour"].
 
[[ChinaTrip|Hacker Trip To China 2009]]
 
[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip2|Hacker Trip To China 2011]]
 
[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip3|Hacker Trip to China 2013]]
 
[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip4|Hacker Trip to China 2014]]
 
[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip5|Hacker Trip to China 2015]]
 
[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip6|Hacker Trip to China 2016]]
 
[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip7|Hacker Trip to China 2017]]

--[[user: maltman23 | Mitch]].

= People interested in going on the Hacker Trip to China #8, 2018: =

'''Below is a list of people interested in going on next year's Hacker Trip To China.''' 
       ''If you are interested in joining this year's Trip, please enter your name in the table.'' 

'''PLEASE EMAIL ME after you enter your name in the table.''' 
       ''mitch *AT* CornfieldElectronics *DOT* com''
 


'''You do not need to be a member of Noisebridge to go on this trip!'''
 

'''Please email me if you have any questions, or if you would like to meet up with us on the trip:''' 
       ''mitch *AT* CornfieldElectronics *DOT* com''

The trip is limited to 20 people total (including Mitch) 
       -- the first 19 people (after Mitch) who are either there already, or who bought tickets to meet in Beijing (our Trip's starting city) 
           on or before 3-November-2018, are the people who are in this Trip. 
           (This probably means flying away from your home airport on or before 2-November-2018.) 


Note: Many people have gotten good deals on their plane fares (including me) with the help of my friend Vlad at:        [http://www.flystein.com/ Flystein] Feel free to email me, and I'll send your email to Vlad, who will be happy to help you with your flights.
 

{| style="color:green; background-color:#ffffcc;" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" border="1"
!
! Name
! Purchased flight?
! Flight info
|-
|1
|[[user: maltman23 | Mitch Altman]] (Noisebridge, San Francisco, USA)
|align="center"|YES
|Arrive: 27-Oct, 2:20pm, UA888 SFO-PEK
|-
|2
|Paul Hamilton [http://www.swmakers.org/](SW Makers, Australia)
|align="center"|YES
|Arrive: 25th Oct, 2:40pm
|-
|3
|Diane Hamilton [http://www.swmakers.org/](SW Makers, Australia)
|align="center"|YES
|Arrive: 25th Oct, 2:40pm
|-
|4
|[[user: marlus | Marlus Araujo]] [http://marlus.com](Rio de Janeiro, Brasil)
|align="center"|YES
|Arrive: 3rd Nov, 11:40am
|-
|5
|[[user: alxd | Pawel Ngei]] (Global Innovation Gathering, Poland)
|align="center"|YES
|Arrive: 27th Oct, 11:55am
|-
|6
|Star (Global Innovation Gathering, Poland / Kenya)
|align="center"|YES
|Arrive: 27th Oct, 11:55am
|-
|7
|Adrian Kelly (Noisebridge)
|align="center"|YES
|Arrive: 2-Nov, 11:45pm, MU590 SFO-PVG, MU5186 PVG-PEK
|-
|8
|Leandra Tejedor
|align="center"|YES
|Arrive: 2-Nov, 7:25pm (leaves Nov 15)
|-
|9
|Pan (Limassol Hackerspace, Cyprus)
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|10
|T Vishwarath Reddy (Labyrinth Tech, Bangalore)
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|11
|Dimi[http://www.facebook.com/dimitriLH] (Limassol Hackerspace, Cyprus)
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|12
|Mark Hellar (Hellar Studios)
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|13
|Keir Winesmith (SFMOMA) 
        '''-- PLEASE EMAIL ME'''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|14
|Jay Mollica (SFMOMA) 
        '''-- PLEASE EMAIL ME'''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|15
|Alex C. 
        '''-- PLEASE EMAIL ME'''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|16
|[[user: drudru | Dru Nelson]] (Redwood City)
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|17
|Rita Wu 
        '''-- PLEASE EMAIL ME'''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|18
|Bruno Rafael Aricó 
        '''-- PLEASE EMAIL ME'''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|19
|Eduardo Padilha 
        '''-- PLEASE EMAIL ME'''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|20
|Fernanda Monteiro Lopes 
        '''-- PLEASE EMAIL ME'''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|21
|Gloria
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|22
|''Noah O'Donoghue''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: 2018-10-27 11:35PM MU2570
|-
|23
|
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|24
|Mayank Malik
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|25
|Yana - Foreign Eye
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|26
|Felix (Germany)
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|27
|Max (Germany) 
        '''-- PLEASE EMAIL ME'''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|28
||[[user: cel | Charles Lehner]] (Sudo Room)
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|29
|Michal Stefanow[https://MichalStefanow.com] (astralship, UK, Poland)
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD ''(Aug 2nd visit to China embassy)''
|-
|30
|Olivier de Saint-Hubert
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|31
|Martin Bähr 
        '''-- PLEASE EMAIL ME'''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: already in china
|-
|32
|John Kunnath
        '''-- PLEASE EMAIL ME'''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|33
|Dan Royer
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|34
|Eitan Rieger
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|35
|Michelle Lai
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|36
|Sreejith Mohanan
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|37
|''Audrey Lim''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: ''TBD''
|-
|38
|''Thiago Mendes''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: ''TBD''
|-
|39
|''Susie Kay''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: ''Will know soon...''
|-
|40
|''your name here''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: ''your arrival info here''
|}

[[Category:Travel]]
[[Category:Projects]]

NoisebridgeChinaTrip8

2018-07-24T06:56:18Z

Noah: /* People interested in going on the Hacker Trip to China #8, 2018: */

= NOISEBRIDGE HACKER TRIP TO CHINA #8 -- Start Date: 3-November-2018, in Beijing -- End Date: 23-November-2018, in Shenzhen=

[[File:HTTC2014WelcomeHackers.jpg|thumb|right|Trip #4 Welcome to China!, Beijing]]

[[File:KungFuHacking_Nov_2013.jpg|thumb|right|Trip #3 Kung Fu Hacking: Hackers In Residence Kickoff event at Tsinghua University, Beijing]]

[[File:petrochemical_university.jpg|thumb|right|Trip #2 Visit to Petrochemical Univeristy, Beijing]]

[[File:Beijing_Oct_2009.jpg|thumb|right|Trip #1 Jingshan Park, Beijing]]

[[File:Shenzhen_Oct_2016.jpg|thumb|right|Trip #5 Visit to Seeed Studio's factory, Shenzhen]]

[[File:Zhenzhou_Oct_2016.jpg|thumb|right|Trip #5 Presentations at Zhengzhou High School #2, Zhengzhou]]
 
 
      ''The start and end dates and cities for this year's Hacker Trip To China are now set!'' 
            '''Start: 3-November-2018, in Beijing''' 
            '''End: 23-November-2018, in Shenzhen''' 
 

'''If you want to be part of this years Hacker Trip To China,''' 
                  
                  
                  
                  
'''it is time to purchase your plane tickets!'''

 
'''It is also time to book your hotel in Beijing!''' 
Please email Mitch for details: 
       ''mitch *AT* CornfieldElectronics *DOT* com''
 
== Previous Hacker Trips To China ==
::''This will be the 8th Noisebridge Hacker Trip To China.'' 
::'''''(Though the start and end dates are now set, and the start and end cities are now set, the rest of the itinerary is only an outline and open to change.)'''''
 
::''In previous years' Hacker Trips To China, we've visited cities that currently have a hackerspace, visited my manufacturer, Seeed Studio, and other manufacturers. We also visited Tsinghua University, considered the most prestigious university in China, and other schools -- all of which have now started hackerspaces. China continues to explode with hackerspaces! We also went to the International Exhibition of Inventions Kunshan (IEIK 2014), near Shanghai. We've also gone to Maker Faires and similar events in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. And everywhere we went, we were shown around by local geeks, to see what they thought was interesting where they live.''

::''Wherever we went, those of us interested gave talks, presentations, workshops, and demos. In 2017 we gave presentations at: Maker Bay and Dim Sum Labs in Hong Kong; at HAX, x.Factory, and Lab0x0 in Shenzhen; at Niba Makerspace and for the mayor of Xi'an in Xi'an; at Tsinghua University's iCenter and Beijing LUG in Beijing, and at DFRobot (an open hardware company in Shanghai), Mushroom Cloud, and XinCheJian hackerspcae in Shanghai.'' 

::''You can see info from the previous Trips: 
::''[[ChinaTrip|Hacker Trip To China 2009]]'' 
::''[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip2|Hacker Trip To China 2011]]'' 
::''[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip3|Hacker Trip To China 2013]]'' 
::''[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip4|Hacker Trip To China 2014]]'' 
::''[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip5|Hacker Trip To China 2015]]'' 
::''[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip6|Hacker Trip To China 2016]]'' 
::''[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip7|Hacker Trip To China 2017]]'' 

::-- [[User:Maltman23|Mitch]].

== This year's Hacker Trip To China ==
'''When: 3-Nov in Beijing''' 
                  through 
            '''23-Nov in Shenzhen'''.

'''Flight, transportation, and hotel Info''': It is up to each person to book your own air fare to meet in our starting city, Beijing, on 3-November (which probably means leaving your home on 2-November), and to fly home from our ending city, Shenzhen, on 23-November. ''(Of course, you can decide to come before or after our start date, and leave before or after our end date -- you are free to come and go as you please -- some of us will spend a few days in Hong Kong after Shenzhen.)'' 

I'll organized the itinerary and the hotels and other transport. I'll pay in advance for some of this, and you can pay me back when we're in China. 

'''Where:''' In each of the cities we will go to, we'll visit some of their local hackerspace(s), and will be shown around by local geeks to see what interests them where they live. We'll also have plenty of time to do "normal" (and spectacular) tourist things too! 

'''NOTE THAT THE INFO BELOW IS ONLY A BRIEF POSSIBLE OUTLINE:''' 
'''Here's some possible places we might visit, leaving plenty of room for the serendipity that makes our Hacker Trip To China truly unique and memorable:''' 
* We will start our trip by meeting in '''Beijing''' where we may visit [http://www.bjmakerspace.com/ Beijing Makerspace], and other hackerspaces. We'll also visit Tsinghua University, where they built the "world's largest hackerspace" in 2015 (called the "iCenter"), and where I've been hacker in residence. Beijing has lots and lots of way amazing stuff to visit and be a part of!
* We will probably next go to '''Xi'an''', where we will be shown some of the extensive activity to encourage "innovation" there. We can give presentations at [http://www.nibaspace.com/index/ Niba Makerspace], where lots of way cool and interesting things are happening. Our hosts will also show us lots of local arts and cultural activities, as well as give us a tour of the 10,000 Terracotta Warriors.
* We may go to '''Chengdu''' from there, home of the panda bears, as well as another new Chinese "innovation" hub.
* We may then visit '''Shanghai'''. In Shanghai we will visit [http://www.etonnet.com/ my manufacturer (Etonnet)] that I have used for [http://www.tvbgone.com TV-B-Gone] remote controls and [http://www.neurodreamer.com NeuroDreamer] sleep masks, where we will all get to see how products are made, from start to finish, learning how manufacturing works. We will also visit [http://xinchejian.com/ XinCheJian] hackerspace in Shanghai, the coolest hackerspace in all of China. We can also visit companies started by hardware hacker geeks, such as [http://www.dfrobot.com/ DFRobot]. We can also visit the [http://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/4064240200/in/set-72157622640069902/ Shanghai electronics mall] (a smaller version of the famous electronics mall we will later visit in Shenzhen).
* We'll finish our Trip in '''Shenzhen''', where we can visit [http://www.chaihuo.org/ Chaihuo Makerspace], [http://www.szdiy.org/ SZDIY] hackerspace, and a few other hackerspaces, some of which are real, and hundreds of which are new over-the-top bizarre government-started places where they want to create "the next Apple" (we won't visit them all!). We can visit [http://www.chaihuo.org/xfactory/ x.factory] while we are in town, an interesting mix of hackerspace and incubator, where we can organize a Bring-A-Hack event, where anyone of us (for those who want to), along with the general public, can show off our projects. We will also visit [http://www.seeedstudio.com Seeed Studio] - the open source hardware company - to meet the cool folks there and to see their manufacturing facilities. We may meet with the founders of [http://dangerousprototypes.com/ Dangerous Prototypes] - another open source hardware company. We'll also visit other manufacturers, to see where all the things we use in our daily lives come from (such as springs, cables, PCBs, packaging, etc., etc.). We can also visit [http://www.dorabot.com/ Dorabot], a Chinese robotics company comprised of people in the Shenzhen hackerspace scene. We may also visit [https://hax.co/ HAX], the first and biggest hardware accelerator (and where I'm a mentor) -- those who wanted to gave presentations at HAX last year. Of course, we'll also visit the famous (and totally awesome!) [http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/shenzhen/print Huaqiangbei electronics market] in Shenzhen (where, we may again be shown around by famous hackers who really know the place well). If the timing works out, we will go to the [http://www.shenzhenmakerfaire.com/ Shenzhen Maker Faire]. 

For most of us, our trip will end at the end of three weeks, as many people on our trip will fly home from our last city, Shenzhen, on 23-November. But, since '''Hong Kong''' is just over the border from mainland China, some of us will go there to fly home (since it is cheaper, and since Hong Kong is a way cool city).

''Of course, everyone is free to arrive and leave whenever you like for the Hacker Trip To China. 

'''Cost:''' For the Hacker Trip To China 2017, I paid $2,656 total (for 4 weeks, since I stayed longer than the Trip), including air fare from SF, food, lodging, transportation, a new smart phone, a bunch of new clothing, and everything. 
''As in past years, part of this year's trip may be paid for by Tsinghua University, our hosts in Xi'an, and other hosts that invite us to give presentations.''

'''#hashtag:''' [https://twitter.com/hashtag/httc2018 #httc2018]      (Hacker Trip To China 2018)

 
 

== Itinerary outline for Hacker Trip to China 8 ==

'''NOTE: THE FOLLOWING INFO IS ONLY A POSSIBLE OUTLINE'''

'''The start and end dates are set, the start and end cities are set, but the rest of the itinerary is open to serendipity:'''
''2-November-2017 -- '''Leave home''' for '''Beijing''' (arrive in Beijing on 3-November)''
''3-November-2017 -- We all meet in '''Beijing''' -- hotel: various -- [https://www.booking.com/hotel/cn/hyde-hotel.en-gb.html in an around Hyde Courtyard Hotel]
'''3-November to 9-November -- Beijing'''
3-November, 8pm: Group dinner
5-October, 1pm: Bring A Hack at [http://moonshotacademy.cn/ Moonshot Acadamy]
''9-November -- train to Xi'an''
'''9-November to 13-November -- Xi'an'''
''13-November -- train to Chengdu''
'''13-November to 15-November -- Chengdu'''
''15-November -- train to Shanghai''
'''15-November to 18-November -- Shanghai'''
''18-November -- train to Shenzhen''
'''18-November to 23-November -- Shenzhen''' ''
''23-November -- '''fly home''' (arrive NA or EU on same day)''

'''After Shenzhen some people may go to Hong Kong for a few days''' ''

== Very Useful Guide about Internet, Phones, Translation, and Navigation ==
Here is [[Noahs_Guide|a very useful guide]] about internet in China, phones in China, translating Chinese, and navigation in China! This was written in 2017, and should all still be relevant for this year.

== Hong Kong Guide ==
[[Hong Kong Guide]]

 
 
 
 
 

== Photos from Hacker Trip To China 2017==
<gallery>
File:HTTC2017HongKong.jpg
File:HTTC2017Shenzhen.jpg
File:HTTC2017Xian.jpg
File:HTTC2017Beijing.jpg
File:HTTC2017Shanghai.jpg
File:HTTC2017Beijing2.jpg
</gallery>

Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157665928352469/ Hong Kong, Oct-2017] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157665929390189/ Shenzhen, Oct-2017] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157688052606231/ Xi'an, Oct-2017] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157688052837801/ Beijing, Oct-2017] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157687009709482/ Shanghai, Oct-2017] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157688893716634/ Beijing Set 2, Oct-2017] 


[https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/collections/72157665931188619/ Mitch's photos for HTTC 2017 all in one place]


 
 
 
 

== Photos from Hacker Trip To China 2016==
<gallery>
File:HTTC2016Shanghai.jpg
File:HTTC2016Zhenzhou.jpg
File:HTTC2016Shenzhen.jpg
File:HTTC2016Beijing.jpg
File:HTTC2016Hangzhou.jpg
File:HTTC2016Beijing2.jpg
</gallery>

Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157672475058474/ Shanghai, Oct-2016] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157674645655612/ Zhengzhou, Oct-2016] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157676024748146/ Shenzhen, Oct-2016] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157676142107066/ Beijing, Oct-2016] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157676144570756/ Hangzhou, Oct-2016] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157672603805234/ Beijing Set 2, Oct-2016] 


[https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/collections/72157674928976010/ Mitch's photos for HTTC 2016 all in one place]


 
 
 
 

== Photos from Hacker Trip to China 2015==
<gallery>
File:HTTC2015HongKongNeon.jpg
File:HTTC2015ShenzhenFactory.jpg
File:HTTC2015ShanghaiTempleMall.jpg
File:HTTC2015BeijingDoor.jpg
File:HTTC2015HangzhouTemple.jpg
File:HTTC2015BeijingShop.jpg
File:HTTC2015SuzhouUmbrellas.jpg
</gallery>

Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157659076735178 Hong Kong, Oct-2015] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157660026965949 Shenzhen, Oct-2015] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157660038275888 Shanghai, Oct-2015] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157658114137264 Beijing, Oct-2015] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/albums/72157660424228042 YiWu & Hangzhou, Oct-2015] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/albums/72157660650175925 Beijing Set 2, Oct-2015] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/albums/72157658310336814 Shanghai & Suzhou, Oct-2015] 


[https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/collections/72157660374807166/ Mitch's photos for HTTC 2015 all in one place]


 
[https://picasaweb.google.com/dtharn/ChinaInOctober2015?feat=directlink Dave's photos]

 
Blake's photos:
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/cwlcks/sets/72157662429341996 Hong Kong!]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/cwlcks/albums/72157660150285384 Shenzen!]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/cwlcks/albums/72157661790873029 Shanghai!]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/cwlcks/albums/72157660153522904 Beijing!]
 

Torrey's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/gp/torrey/Q840rT Hong Kong] 
Torrey's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/gp/torrey/yLo903 Shenzhen] 
Torrey's photos from [https://flic.kr/s/aHskqNiQeX Beijing] 
Torrey's photos from [https://flic.kr/s/aHskrE55NX Shanghai] 

 
 
 
 

== Photos from Hacker Trip to China 2014==
<gallery>
File:HTTC2014WelcomeHackers.jpg
File:HTTC20143Nod_b.jpg
File:HTTC2014AiWeiWei.jpg
File:HTTC2014BeijingLGBTcentre.jpg
File:HTTC2014Brooms.jpg
File:HTTC2014CableFactory.jpg
File:HTTC2014ChaiHuo.jpg
File:HTTC2014GiantSewing.jpg
File:HTTC2014Huaqianbei.jpg
File:HTTC2014IEIK2014.jpg
File:HTTC2014SeeedStudio.jpg
File:HTTC2014Shanghai.jpg
File:HTTC2014Tianjin.jpg
File:HTTC2014Tienanmen.jpg
File:HTTC2014TrainConvenienceStore.jpg
File:HTTC2014TsinghuaMakersDay.jpg
File:HTTC20143Nod.jpg
File:HTTC2014XinCheJian.jpg
</gallery>

Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157646894397704/ Beijing, Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157648975298719/ Shanghai, Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157648981933060/ Shenzhen, Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157649396351315/ Kunshan, Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157649148594118/ Shanghai (2), Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157649146775640/ Beijing (2), Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157649146987360/ Tianjin, Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157647372474753/ Beijing (3), Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157649287546450/ Singapore, Dec-2014] 


[https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/collections/72157649162773126/ Mitch's photos for HTTC 2014 all in one place]


 
 
 
 

== You will Need a Chinese Visa!! ==
To go to China, you needed to get a visa!

Everyone should get a multiple-entry Tourist L visa (if you only get a single-entry visa, you'll be fine, but you won't have as many options, such as going in and out of Shenzhen to Hong Kong).

* And to get a visa, you need to have a passport that is valid ''at least'' 12 months after you planned to fly away from China (so, e.g., if you are leaving China on 23-November-2018, then your passport needs to be valid through 22-November-2019). Your passport must also have at least ''one entirely blank page''.

* You also need:
** a printout of a filled-out [http://www.chinaconsulatesf.org/chn/qianzhen/zgqz/P020130828366275572026.pdf Visa Application Form V. 2013 of the People's Republic of China]. (If you like, please email me, and I can reply with my filled out visa form from 2015, so you have an example to follow).
** a copy of the information pages of your passport.
** a copy of your most recent Chinese visa (if you have been to China before).
** one 2"x2" recent color photo (not a printout).
** a screenshot or printout of hotel reservation confirmation (I'll email this to you when I have this).
** a copy of your airline tickets (both to and from China).

* For US citizens, the visa cost $140 (but it is much cheaper for other nationalities). Starting in 2015, US citizens can get a multiple-entry visa, good for 10 years (even though there is no option for this on the visa form). We should all apply for a Tourist L visa.

You can pay the fee by Visa, MasterCard, Money Order, Cashier's Check or Company Check. ''Cash or Personal checks are not acceptable.''

To get a visa, you can go to your local Chinese consulate. No appointment is required. You go in one day, and it will be ready for pick up 4 business days later. My experience is that it takes about an hour the first day, and takes only a few minutes to pick up the visa a few days later. (2 to 3 business-day and 1 business day/same-day express service is available for $20 or $30.) 
''NOTE: The Chinese consulates are all closed for Chinese holidays! Please check the dates! For 2018 these dates are: 1-January, 15-January, 15-16 February, 28-May, 19-June, 4-July, 3-September, 1-October, 8-October, 12-November, 22-23 November, and 24-25-December: 
[https://www.travelchinaguide.com/embassy/us/sanfrancisco.htm 2018 San Francisco Chinese Consulate Holiday Schedule]''
 
(Citizens of US and Europe ''do not'' need a separate visa for Hong Kong.)
 

= Previous Noisebridge China Trips =
''If you're curious about the previous Noisebridge China Trips, they have their own wiki pages:'' 
[[ChinaTrip|Hacker Trip To China 2009]] 
          That first Noisebridge China Trip was inspired by Bunny Huang's [http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/shenzhen/print "geek tour"].
 
[[ChinaTrip|Hacker Trip To China 2009]]
 
[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip2|Hacker Trip To China 2011]]
 
[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip3|Hacker Trip to China 2013]]
 
[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip4|Hacker Trip to China 2014]]
 
[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip5|Hacker Trip to China 2015]]
 
[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip6|Hacker Trip to China 2016]]
 
[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip7|Hacker Trip to China 2017]]

--[[user: maltman23 | Mitch]].

= People interested in going on the Hacker Trip to China #8, 2018: =

'''Below is a list of people interested in going on next year's Hacker Trip To China.''' 
       ''If you are interested in joining this year's Trip, please enter your name in the table.'' 

'''PLEASE EMAIL ME after you enter your name in the table.''' 
       ''mitch *AT* CornfieldElectronics *DOT* com''
 


'''You do not need to be a member of Noisebridge to go on this trip!'''
 

'''Please email me if you have any questions, or if you would like to meet up with us on the trip:''' 
       ''mitch *AT* CornfieldElectronics *DOT* com''

The trip is limited to 20 people total (including Mitch) 
       -- the first 19 people (after Mitch) who are either there already, or who bought tickets to meet in Beijing (our Trip's starting city) 
           on or before 3-November-2018, are the people who are in this Trip. 
           (This probably means flying away from your home airport on or before 2-November-2018.) 


Note: Many people have gotten good deals on their plane fares (including me) with the help of my friend Vlad at:        [http://www.flystein.com/ Flystein] Feel free to email me, and I'll send your email to Vlad, who will be happy to help you with your flights.
 

{| style="color:green; background-color:#ffffcc;" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" border="1"
!
! Name
! Purchased flight?
! Flight info
|-
|1
|[[user: maltman23 | Mitch Altman]] (Noisebridge, San Francisco, USA)
|align="center"|YES
|Arrive: 27-Oct, 2:20pm, UA888 SFO-PEK
|-
|2
|Paul Hamilton [http://www.swmakers.org/](SW Makers, Australia)
|align="center"|YES
|Arrive: 25th Oct, 2:40pm
|-
|3
|Diane Hamilton [http://www.swmakers.org/](SW Makers, Australia)
|align="center"|YES
|Arrive: 25th Oct, 2:40pm
|-
|4
|[[user: marlus | Marlus Araujo]] [http://marlus.com](Rio de Janeiro, Brasil)
|align="center"|YES
|Arrive: 3rd Nov, 11:40am
|-
|5
|[[user: alxd | Pawel Ngei]] (Global Innovation Gathering, Poland)
|align="center"|YES
|Arrive: 27th Oct, 11:55am
|-
|6
|Star (Global Innovation Gathering, Poland / Kenya)
|align="center"|YES
|Arrive: 27th Oct, 11:55am
|-
|7
|Adrian Kelly (Noisebridge)
|align="center"|YES
|Arrive: 2-Nov, 11:45pm, MU590 SFO-PVG, MU5186 PVG-PEK
|-
|8
|Leandra Tejedor
|align="center"|YES
|Arrive: 2-Nov, 7:25pm
|-
|9
|Pan (Limassol Hackerspace, Cyprus)
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|10
|T Vishwarath Reddy (Labyrinth Tech, Bangalore)
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|11
|Dimi[http://www.facebook.com/dimitriLH] (Limassol Hackerspace, Cyprus)
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|12
|Mark Hellar (Hellar Studios)
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|13
|Keir Winesmith (SFMOMA) 
        '''-- PLEASE EMAIL ME'''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|14
|Jay Mollica (SFMOMA) 
        '''-- PLEASE EMAIL ME'''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|15
|Alex C. 
        '''-- PLEASE EMAIL ME'''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|16
|[[user: drudru | Dru Nelson]] (Redwood City)
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|17
|Rita Wu 
        '''-- PLEASE EMAIL ME'''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|18
|Bruno Rafael Aricó 
        '''-- PLEASE EMAIL ME'''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|19
|Eduardo Padilha 
        '''-- PLEASE EMAIL ME'''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|20
|Fernanda Monteiro Lopes 
        '''-- PLEASE EMAIL ME'''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|21
|Gloria
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|22
|''Noah O'Donoghue''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: 2018-10-29 00:50 MU2570
|-
|23
|
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|24
|Mayank Malik
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|25
|Yana - Foreign Eye
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|26
|Felix (Germany)
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|27
|Max (Germany) 
        '''-- PLEASE EMAIL ME'''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|28
||[[user: cel | Charles Lehner]] (Sudo Room)
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|29
|Michal Stefanow[https://MichalStefanow.com] (astralship, UK, Poland)
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD ''(Aug 2nd visit to China embassy)''
|-
|30
|Olivier de Saint-Hubert
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|31
|Martin Bähr 
        '''-- PLEASE EMAIL ME'''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: already in china
|-
|32
|John Kunnath
        '''-- PLEASE EMAIL ME'''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|33
|Dan Royer
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|34
|Eitan Rieger
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|35
|Michelle Lai
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|36
|Sreejith Mohanan
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: TBD
|-
|37
|''Audrey Lim''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: ''TBD''
|-
|38
|''your name here''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: ''your arrival info here''
|-
|39
|''your name here''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: ''your arrival info here''
|-
|40
|''your name here''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: ''your arrival info here''
|}

[[Category:Travel]]
[[Category:Projects]]

NoisebridgeChinaTrip7

2017-06-07T02:46:59Z

Noah:

= NOISEBRIDGE HACKER TRIP TO CHINA #7 -- Start Date: 8-October-2017, in Hong Kong -- End Date: 28-October-2017, in Shanghai=

[[File:HTTC2014WelcomeHackers.jpg|thumb|right|Trip #4 Welcome to China!, Beijing]]

[[File:KungFuHacking_Nov_2013.jpg|thumb|right|Trip #3 Kung Fu Hacking: Hackers In Residence Kickoff event at Tsinghua University, Beijing]]

[[File:petrochemical_university.jpg|thumb|right|Trip #2 Visit to Petrochemical Univeristy, Beijing]]

[[File:Beijing_Oct_2009.jpg|thumb|right|Trip #1 Jingshan Park, Beijing]]

[[File:Shenzhen_Oct_2016.jpg|thumb|right|Trip #5 Visit to Seeed Studio's factory, Shenzhen]]

[[File:Zhenzhou_Oct_2016.jpg|thumb|right|Trip #5 Presentations at Zhengzhou High School #2, Zhengzhou]]

== Previous Hacker Trips To China ==
::''This will be the 7th Noisebridge Hacker Trip To China.'' 
::'''''(The dates are set, the start and end cities are set, but the itinerary is an outline and open to change.)'''''
::''In previous years' Hacker Trip To China, we've visited cities that currently have a hackerspace, visited my manufacturer, Seeed Studio, and other manufacturers. We also visited Tsinghua University, considered the most prestigious university in China, and other schools -- all of which have now starting hackerspaces. China continues to explode with hackerspaces! We also went to the International Exhibition of Inventions Kunshan (IEIK 2014), near Shanghai. And everywhere we went, we were shown around by local geeks, to see what they thought was interesting where they live. Also, wherever we went, those of us interested gave talks, presentations, workshops, and demos. In 2016 we gave presentations at NY University - Shanghai, DFRobot (an open hardware company in Shanghai), Shanghai Maker Carnival, Zhengzhou High School Number 2, "Second Generation and Start-ups" conference in Hangzhou.'' 

::''You can see info on the [[ChinaTrip|Hacker Trip To China 2009]],'' 
::''[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip2|Hacker Trip To China 2011]]'' 
::''[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip3|Hacker Trip To China 2013]]'' 
::''[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip4|Hacker Trip To China 2014]]'' 
::''[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip5|Hacker Trip To China 2015]]'' 
::''[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip6|Hacker Trip To China 2016]],'' 

::-- [[User:Maltman23|Mitch]].

== This year's Hacker Trip To China ==
'''When:''' 8-October-2017 in Hong Kong through 28-October-2017 in Shanghai.

'''Flight, transportation, and hotel Info''': We were each be on our own to book our own air fare to meet in our starting city, Hong Kong, on 8-October, and fly home from out ending city, Shanghai, on 28-October. Of course, you can decide to come and go as you please. 

I'll organized the itinerary and the hotels and other transport. I'll pay in advance for some of this, and you can pay me back when we're in China. 

'''Where:''' In each of the cities we will go to, we'll visit some of their local hackerspace(s), and will be shown around by local geeks to see what interested them where they live. We'll also have plenty of time to do "normal" (and spectacular) tourist things too! 

'''Here's some possible places we might visit, leaving plenty of room for the serendipity that makes our Hacker Trip To China truly unique and memorable:''' 
* We will start our trip by meeting in '''Hong Kong''' and visit [http://www.dimsumlabs.com/ Dim Sum Labs] hackerspace. Hong Kong is a fantastic city, so, we'll also see lots of other cool stuff in Hong Kong. 
* Then we'll go across the border to mainland China again, to '''Shenzhen''' to visit [http://www.chaihuo.org/ Chaihuo Makerspace], [http://www.szdiy.org/ SZDIY] hackerspace, [http://litchee.cn/en/ Litchee Lab], and a few other hackerspaces, some of which are real, and hundreds of which are brand new (this year) over-the-top bizarre government-started places where they want to create "the next Apple" (we won't visit them all!). We'll visit this year's [http://www.makerfaireshenzhen.com/english Maker Faire Shenzhen] while we are in town (13-15 October), where we will be way welcomed, and we'll be given a booth where we can all show off our projects and give workshops (if you like). We will also visit [http://www.seeedstudio.com Seeed Studio] - the open source hardware company - to meet the cool folks there and to see their manufacturing facilities. We may meet with the founders of [http://dangerousprototypes.com/ Dangerous Prototypes] - another open source hardware company. We'll also visit other manufacturers, to see where all the things we use in our daily lives come from (such as springs, cables, PCBs, packaging, etc., etc.). We can also visit Dorabot, a Chinese robotics company comprised of people in the Shenzhen hackerspace scene. Of course, we'll also visit the famous (and totally awesome!) [http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/shenzhen/print Huaqiangbei electronics market] in Shenzhen (where, we may again be shown around by a professional buyer from Deal Extreme (dx.com). And if uhgall@gmail.com happens to be in town, we might visit [http://www.constellation.ws/ Constellation] or even stay in their factory dorm. 
* We will then make our way to '''Beijing''' where we may visit [http://www.bjmakerspace.com/ Beijing Makerspace], and other hackerspaces. We'll also visit Tsinghua University, where they built the world's largest hackerspace last year (called the "iCenter"), and where I've been hacker in residence. Beijing has lots and lots of way amazing stuff to visit and be a part of!
* Our last city will be '''Shanghai'''. In Shanghai we will visit [http://www.etonnet.com/ my manufacturer (Etonnet)] that I have used for [http://www.tvbgone.com TV-B-Gone] remote controls and [http://www.neurodreamer.com NeuroDreamer] sleep masks, where we will all get to see how products are made, from start to finish, learning how manufacturing works. We will also visit [http://xinchejian.com/ XinCheJian] hackerspace in Shanghai. We can also visit companies started by hardware hacker geeks, such as [http://www.dfrobot.com/ DFRobot]. We can visit Phicomm, a medium-sized OEM manufacturer. We can also visit the [http://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/4064240200/in/set-72157622640069902/ Shanghai electronics mall] (a smaller version of the famous electronics mall we will later visit in Shenzhen).

For most of us, our trip will end at the end of three weeks, as many people on our trip will fly home from our last city, Shanghai, on 28-October-2017.

''Of course, everyone is free to arrive and leave whenever you like for the Hacker Trip To China. 
I will tentatively be flying home from Shanghai 28-October. ''

'''Cost:''' For the Hacker Trip To China 2016, I paid $1,997 total (for 4 weeks), including air fare from SF, food, lodging, transportation, and everything -- including some electronics stuff and some clothing that I bought. 
''As in past years, part of this year's trip may be paid for by Tsinghua University and other places that invite us to give presentations.''

'''#hashtag:''' [https://twitter.com/hashtag/httc2017 #httc2017]      (Hacker Trip To China 2017)

 
 

== Possible itinerary outline for Hacker Trip to China 7 ==

'''The start and end dates are set, the start and end cities are set, but the rest of the itinerary is open to serendipity:'''
''7-October-2017 -- '''Leave home''' for '''Hong Kong''' (arrive in Hong Kong on 8-October)''
''8-October-2017 -- We all meet in '''Hong Kong''' -- hotel: to be determined
'''8-October to 12-October -- Hong Kong'''
'''12-October to 18-October -- Shenzhen'''
13-15 October: Shenzhen Maker Faire
16-October: Chaihuo Bring-A-Hack
'''18-October to 23-October -- Beijing'''
'''23-October to 28-October -- Shanghai''' ''
''28-November-2017 -- '''fly home''' (arrive NA or EU on same day)''

 
 
 
 
 

== Photos from Hacker Trip To China 2016==
<gallery>
File:HTTC2016Shanghai.jpg
File:HTTC2016Zhenzhou.jpg
File:HTTC2016Shenzhen.jpg
File:HTTC2016Beijing.jpg
File:HTTC2016Hangzhou.jpg
File:HTTC2016Beijing2.jpg
</gallery>

Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157672475058474/ Shanghai, Oct-2016] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157674645655612/ Zhengzhou, Oct-2016] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157676024748146/ Shenzhen, Oct-2016] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157676142107066/ Beijing, Oct-2016] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157676144570756/ Hangzhou, Oct-2016] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157672603805234/ Beijing Set 2, Oct-2016] 

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/collections/72157674928976010/ Mitch's photos all in one place]

 
 
 
 

== Photos from Hacker Trip to China 2015==
<gallery>
File:HTTC2015HongKongNeon.jpg
File:HTTC2015ShenzhenFactory.jpg
File:HTTC2015ShanghaiTempleMall.jpg
File:HTTC2015BeijingDoor.jpg
File:HTTC2015HangzhouTemple.jpg
File:HTTC2015BeijingShop.jpg
File:HTTC2015SuzhouUmbrellas.jpg
</gallery>

Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157659076735178 Hong Kong, Oct-2015] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157660026965949 Shenzhen, Oct-2015] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157660038275888 Shanghai, Oct-2015] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157658114137264 Beijing, Oct-2015] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/albums/72157660424228042 YiWu & Hangzhou, Oct-2015] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/albums/72157660650175925 Beijing Set 2, Oct-2015] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/albums/72157658310336814 Shanghai & Suzhou, Oct-2015] 

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/collections/72157660374807166/ Mitch's photos all in one place]

 
[https://picasaweb.google.com/dtharn/ChinaInOctober2015?feat=directlink Dave's photos]

 
Blake's photos:
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/cwlcks/sets/72157662429341996 Hong Kong!]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/cwlcks/albums/72157660150285384 Shenzen!]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/cwlcks/albums/72157661790873029 Shanghai!]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/cwlcks/albums/72157660153522904 Beijing!]
 

Torrey's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/gp/torrey/Q840rT Hong Kong] 
Torrey's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/gp/torrey/yLo903 Shenzhen] 
Torrey's photos from [https://flic.kr/s/aHskqNiQeX Beijing] 
Torrey's photos from [https://flic.kr/s/aHskrE55NX Shanghai] 

 
 
 
 

== Photos from Hacker Trip to China 2014==
<gallery>
File:HTTC2014WelcomeHackers.jpg
File:HTTC20143Nod_b.jpg
File:HTTC2014AiWeiWei.jpg
File:HTTC2014BeijingLGBTcentre.jpg
File:HTTC2014Brooms.jpg
File:HTTC2014CableFactory.jpg
File:HTTC2014ChaiHuo.jpg
File:HTTC2014GiantSewing.jpg
File:HTTC2014Huaqianbei.jpg
File:HTTC2014IEIK2014.jpg
File:HTTC2014SeeedStudio.jpg
File:HTTC2014Shanghai.jpg
File:HTTC2014Tianjin.jpg
File:HTTC2014Tienanmen.jpg
File:HTTC2014TrainConvenienceStore.jpg
File:HTTC2014TsinghuaMakersDay.jpg
File:HTTC20143Nod.jpg
File:HTTC2014XinCheJian.jpg
</gallery>

Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157646894397704/ Beijing, Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157648975298719/ Shanghai, Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157648981933060/ Shenzhen, Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157649396351315/ Kunshan, Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157649148594118/ Shanghai (2), Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157649146775640/ Beijing (2), Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157649146987360/ Tianjin, Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157647372474753/ Beijing (3), Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157649287546450/ Singapore, Dec-2014] 

== You will Need a Chinese Visa!! ==
To go to China, you needed to get a visa!

Everyone should get a multiple-entry Tourist L visa (if you only get a single-entry visa, you'll be fine, but you won't have as many options, such as going in and out of Shenzhen to Hong Kong).

* And to get a visa, you need to have a passport that is valid ''at least'' 12 months after you planned to fly away from China (so, e.g., if you are leaving China on 28-October-2017, then your passport needs to be valid through 27-October-2017). Your passport must also have at least ''one entirely blank page''.

* You also need:
** a printout of a filled-out [http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/visas/fd/W020130830801798289342.pdf Visa Application Form V. 2013 of the People's Republic of China] (after we have everything we need I'll email you my filled out form as an example to follow).
** a copy of the information pages of your passport.
** a copy of your most Chinese visa (if you have been to China before).
** one 2"x2" recent color photo (not a printout).
** a screenshot or printout of hotel reservation confirmation (I'll email this to you when I have this).
** a copy of your airline tickets (both to and from China).

* For US citizens, the visa cost $140 (much cheaper for other nationalities). Starting this year, US citizens can get a multiple-entry visa, good for 10 years. We should all apply for a Tourist L visa.

You can pay the fee by Visa, MasterCard, Money Order, Cashier's Check or Company Check. ''Cash or Personal checks are not acceptable.''

To get a visa, you can go to your local Chinese consulate. No appointment is required. You go in one day, and it will be ready for pick up 4 business days later. My experience is that it takes about an hour the first day, and takes only a few minutes to pick up the visa a few days later. (2 to 3 business-day and 1 business day/same-day express service is available for $20 or $30.) 
''NOTE: The Chinese consulates are all closed for holidays on: 27-30 January, 29-30 May, 30-May, 9-June, 4-July, 4-September, 2-October, 9-October and other dates: 
[http://www.chinaconsulatesf.org/eng/lszj/t1424287.htm 2017 Chinese Consulate Holiday Schedule]''
 
(Citizens of US and Europe ''do not'' need a separate visa for Hong Kong.)
 

= Previous Noisebridge China Trips =
''If you're curious about the previous Noisebridge China Trips, they have their own wiki pages:'' 
[[ChinaTrip|Hacker Trip To China 2009]] 
          That first Noisebridge China Trip was inspired by Bunny Huang's [http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/shenzhen/print "geek tour"].
 
[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip2|Hacker Trip To China 2011]]
 
[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip3|Hacker Trip to China 2013]]
 
[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip4|Hacker Trip to China 2014]]
 
[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip5|Hacker Trip to China 2015]]
 
[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip6|Hacker Trip to China 2016]]

--[[user: maltman23 | Mitch]].

= People interested in going on the Hacker Trip to China #7, 2017: =


'''Below is a list of people interested in going on this year's Hacker Trip To China.'''
 


'''You do not need to be a member of Noisebridge to go on this trip!'''
 

'''Please email me if you have any questions, or if you would like to meet up with us on the trip:''' 
''mitch *AT* CornfieldElectronics *DOT* com''

The trip is limited to 20 people total (including Mitch) 
-- the first 19 people (after Mitch) who are either there already, or who bought tickets to meet in our Trip's starting city (tentatively Shanghai) on or before 11-October-2017 are the people who are in this Trip        (which probably means flying away from home on or before 10-October) 


Note: Many people have gotten good deals on their plane fares (including me) with the help of my friend Vlad at:        [http://www.flystein.com/ Flystein] Feel free to email me, and I'll send your email to Vlad, who will be happy to help you with your flights.
 

{| style="color:green; background-color:#ffffcc;" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" border="1"
!
! Name
! Purchased flight?
! Flight info
|-
|1
|[[user: maltman23 | Mitch Altman]] (Noisebridge, San Francisco, USA)
|align="center"|YES
|Arrive: Hong Kong on 6-Oct at 17:10 -- flight CX254 (from LHR)
|-
|2
|Robert Fitzsimons (TOG, Ireland)
|align="center"|YES
|Arrive: Hong Kong on 8-Oct at 15:25 -- EK382 (from DXB); Depart: Shanghai at 00:05 on Oct 29th (Emirates 8303)
|-
|3
|[[user: keymistress | Gloria Chiang]]
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: 'Beijing on (date TBD)
|-
|4
|[[user:juul|Marc Juul]]
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: Beijing on (date TBD)
|-
|5
|Anthony Liekens (Open Garage, Belgium)
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: ''Wants to tag along in Shenzhen''
|-
|6
|Rafael Câmera Santos (Fazedores.com, Brazil)
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: Shenzhen or Hong Kong on (date TBD)
|-
|7
|Jan Marloth (fablab munich, Germany)
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: Shanghai? on (date TBD)
|-
|8
|[[user: feklee | Felix E. Klee]]
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: Consider traveling by ground from Berlin
|-
|9
|[[user: mrericboyd | Eric Boyd]]
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: will arrive in Hong Kong and join for entire trip
|-
|10
|''freeman murray''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: ''oct 8, Hong Kong''
|-
|11
|[[user: sumukh | Sumukh Shetty]]
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: '''8th October HK, join for the entire trip''
|-
|12
|''Jonas S Karlsson''
|align="center"|will be in hk
|Arrive: ''hk''
|-
|13
|''Quijano Flores''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: ''oct 8, Hong Kong''
|-
|14
|''Ruth Grace Wong''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: ''your arrival date and city here''
|-
|15
|''Olivier de Saint-Hubert''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: ''TBD''
|-
|16
|[[user: scitechindian | SYED JUNAID AHMED]] (Makers Hive, AndhraPradesh, INDIA)
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: ''TBD''
|-
|17
|''Mark Hellar''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: 'oct 8, Hong Kong''
|-
|18
|''Noah O'Donoghue''
|align="center"|yes
|Arrive: ''HKG, Oct 8''
|-
|19
|''your name here''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: ''your arrival date and city here''
|-
|20
|''your name here''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: '''your arrival date and city here''
|-
|}

[[Category:Travel]]
[[Category:Projects]]

NoisebridgeChinaTrip7

2017-06-07T02:33:36Z

Noah:

= NOISEBRIDGE HACKER TRIP TO CHINA #7 -- Start Date: 8-October-2017, in Hong Kong -- End Date: 28-October-2017, in Shanghai=

[[File:HTTC2014WelcomeHackers.jpg|thumb|right|Trip #4 Welcome to China!, Beijing]]

[[File:KungFuHacking_Nov_2013.jpg|thumb|right|Trip #3 Kung Fu Hacking: Hackers In Residence Kickoff event at Tsinghua University, Beijing]]

[[File:petrochemical_university.jpg|thumb|right|Trip #2 Visit to Petrochemical Univeristy, Beijing]]

[[File:Beijing_Oct_2009.jpg|thumb|right|Trip #1 Jingshan Park, Beijing]]

[[File:Shenzhen_Oct_2016.jpg|thumb|right|Trip #5 Visit to Seeed Studio's factory, Shenzhen]]

[[File:Zhenzhou_Oct_2016.jpg|thumb|right|Trip #5 Presentations at Zhengzhou High School #2, Zhengzhou]]

== Previous Hacker Trips To China ==
::''This will be the 7th Noisebridge Hacker Trip To China.'' 
::'''''(The dates are set, the start and end cities are set, but the itinerary is an outline and open to change.)'''''
::''In previous years' Hacker Trip To China, we've visited cities that currently have a hackerspace, visited my manufacturer, Seeed Studio, and other manufacturers. We also visited Tsinghua University, considered the most prestigious university in China, and other schools -- all of which have now starting hackerspaces. China continues to explode with hackerspaces! We also went to the International Exhibition of Inventions Kunshan (IEIK 2014), near Shanghai. And everywhere we went, we were shown around by local geeks, to see what they thought was interesting where they live. Also, wherever we went, those of us interested gave talks, presentations, workshops, and demos. In 2016 we gave presentations at NY University - Shanghai, DFRobot (an open hardware company in Shanghai), Shanghai Maker Carnival, Zhengzhou High School Number 2, "Second Generation and Start-ups" conference in Hangzhou.'' 

::''You can see info on the [[ChinaTrip|Hacker Trip To China 2009]],'' 
::''[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip2|Hacker Trip To China 2011]]'' 
::''[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip3|Hacker Trip To China 2013]]'' 
::''[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip4|Hacker Trip To China 2014]]'' 
::''[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip5|Hacker Trip To China 2015]]'' 
::''[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip6|Hacker Trip To China 2016]],'' 

::-- [[User:Maltman23|Mitch]].

== This year's Hacker Trip To China ==
'''When:''' 8-October-2017 in Hong Kong through 28-October-2017 in Shanghai.

'''Flight, transportation, and hotel Info''': We were each be on our own to book our own air fare to meet in our starting city, Hong Kong, on 8-October, and fly home from out ending city, Shanghai, on 28-October. Of course, you can decide to come and go as you please. 

I'll organized the itinerary and the hotels and other transport. I'll pay in advance for some of this, and you can pay me back when we're in China. 

'''Where:''' In each of the cities we will go to, we'll visit some of their local hackerspace(s), and will be shown around by local geeks to see what interested them where they live. We'll also have plenty of time to do "normal" (and spectacular) tourist things too! 

'''Here's some possible places we might visit, leaving plenty of room for the serendipity that makes our Hacker Trip To China truly unique and memorable:''' 
* We will start our trip by meeting in '''Hong Kong''' and visit [http://www.dimsumlabs.com/ Dim Sum Labs] hackerspace. Hong Kong is a fantastic city, so, we'll also see lots of other cool stuff in Hong Kong. 
* Then we'll go across the border to mainland China again, to '''Shenzhen''' to visit [http://www.chaihuo.org/ Chaihuo Makerspace], [http://www.szdiy.org/ SZDIY] hackerspace, [http://litchee.cn/en/ Litchee Lab], and a few other hackerspaces, some of which are real, and hundreds of which are brand new (this year) over-the-top bizarre government-started places where they want to create "the next Apple" (we won't visit them all!). We'll visit this year's [http://www.makerfaireshenzhen.com/english Maker Faire Shenzhen] while we are in town (13-15 October), where we will be way welcomed, and we'll be given a booth where we can all show off our projects and give workshops (if you like). We will also visit [http://www.seeedstudio.com Seeed Studio] - the open source hardware company - to meet the cool folks there and to see their manufacturing facilities. We may meet with the founders of [http://dangerousprototypes.com/ Dangerous Prototypes] - another open source hardware company. We'll also visit other manufacturers, to see where all the things we use in our daily lives come from (such as springs, cables, PCBs, packaging, etc., etc.). We can also visit Dorabot, a Chinese robotics company comprised of people in the Shenzhen hackerspace scene. Of course, we'll also visit the famous (and totally awesome!) [http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/shenzhen/print Huaqiangbei electronics market] in Shenzhen (where, we may again be shown around by a professional buyer from Deal Extreme (dx.com). And if uhgall@gmail.com happens to be in town, we might visit [http://www.constellation.ws/ Constellation] or even stay in their factory dorm. 
* We will then make our way to '''Beijing''' where we may visit [http://www.bjmakerspace.com/ Beijing Makerspace], and other hackerspaces. We'll also visit Tsinghua University, where they built the world's largest hackerspace last year (called the "iCenter"), and where I've been hacker in residence. Beijing has lots and lots of way amazing stuff to visit and be a part of!
* Our last city will be '''Shanghai'''. In Shanghai we will visit [http://www.etonnet.com/ my manufacturer (Etonnet)] that I have used for [http://www.tvbgone.com TV-B-Gone] remote controls and [http://www.neurodreamer.com NeuroDreamer] sleep masks, where we will all get to see how products are made, from start to finish, learning how manufacturing works. We will also visit [http://xinchejian.com/ XinCheJian] hackerspace in Shanghai. We can also visit companies started by hardware hacker geeks, such as [http://www.dfrobot.com/ DFRobot]. We can visit Phicomm, a medium-sized OEM manufacturer. We can also visit the [http://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/4064240200/in/set-72157622640069902/ Shanghai electronics mall] (a smaller version of the famous electronics mall we will later visit in Shenzhen).

For most of us, our trip will end at the end of three weeks, as many people on our trip will fly home from our last city, Shanghai, on 28-October-2017.

''Of course, everyone is free to arrive and leave whenever you like for the Hacker Trip To China. 
I will tentatively be flying home from Shanghai 28-October. ''

'''Cost:''' For the Hacker Trip To China 2016, I paid $1,997 total (for 4 weeks), including air fare from SF, food, lodging, transportation, and everything -- including some electronics stuff and some clothing that I bought. 
''As in past years, part of this year's trip may be paid for by Tsinghua University and other places that invite us to give presentations.''

'''#hashtag:''' [https://twitter.com/hashtag/httc2017 #httc2017]      (Hacker Trip To China 2017)

 
 

== Possible itinerary outline for Hacker Trip to China 7 ==

'''The start and end dates are set, the start and end cities are set, but the rest of the itinerary is open to serendipity:'''
''7-October-2017 -- '''Leave home''' for '''Hong Kong''' (arrive in Hong Kong on 8-October)''
''8-October-2017 -- We all meet in '''Hong Kong''' -- hotel: to be determined
'''8-October to 12-October -- Hong Kong'''
'''12-October to 18-October -- Shenzhen'''
13-15 October: Shenzhen Maker Faire
16-October: Chaihuo Bring-A-Hack
'''18-October to 23-October -- Beijing'''
'''23-October to 28-October -- Shanghai''' ''
''28-November-2017 -- '''fly home''' (arrive NA or EU on same day)''

 
 
 
 
 

== Photos from Hacker Trip To China 2016==
<gallery>
File:HTTC2016Shanghai.jpg
File:HTTC2016Zhenzhou.jpg
File:HTTC2016Shenzhen.jpg
File:HTTC2016Beijing.jpg
File:HTTC2016Hangzhou.jpg
File:HTTC2016Beijing2.jpg
</gallery>

Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157672475058474/ Shanghai, Oct-2016] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157674645655612/ Zhengzhou, Oct-2016] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157676024748146/ Shenzhen, Oct-2016] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157676142107066/ Beijing, Oct-2016] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157676144570756/ Hangzhou, Oct-2016] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157672603805234/ Beijing Set 2, Oct-2016] 

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/collections/72157674928976010/ Mitch's photos all in one place]

 
 
 
 

== Photos from Hacker Trip to China 2015==
<gallery>
File:HTTC2015HongKongNeon.jpg
File:HTTC2015ShenzhenFactory.jpg
File:HTTC2015ShanghaiTempleMall.jpg
File:HTTC2015BeijingDoor.jpg
File:HTTC2015HangzhouTemple.jpg
File:HTTC2015BeijingShop.jpg
File:HTTC2015SuzhouUmbrellas.jpg
</gallery>

Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157659076735178 Hong Kong, Oct-2015] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157660026965949 Shenzhen, Oct-2015] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157660038275888 Shanghai, Oct-2015] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157658114137264 Beijing, Oct-2015] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/albums/72157660424228042 YiWu & Hangzhou, Oct-2015] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/albums/72157660650175925 Beijing Set 2, Oct-2015] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/albums/72157658310336814 Shanghai & Suzhou, Oct-2015] 

[https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/collections/72157660374807166/ Mitch's photos all in one place]

 
[https://picasaweb.google.com/dtharn/ChinaInOctober2015?feat=directlink Dave's photos]

 
Blake's photos:
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/cwlcks/sets/72157662429341996 Hong Kong!]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/cwlcks/albums/72157660150285384 Shenzen!]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/cwlcks/albums/72157661790873029 Shanghai!]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/cwlcks/albums/72157660153522904 Beijing!]
 

Torrey's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/gp/torrey/Q840rT Hong Kong] 
Torrey's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/gp/torrey/yLo903 Shenzhen] 
Torrey's photos from [https://flic.kr/s/aHskqNiQeX Beijing] 
Torrey's photos from [https://flic.kr/s/aHskrE55NX Shanghai] 

 
 
 
 

== Photos from Hacker Trip to China 2014==
<gallery>
File:HTTC2014WelcomeHackers.jpg
File:HTTC20143Nod_b.jpg
File:HTTC2014AiWeiWei.jpg
File:HTTC2014BeijingLGBTcentre.jpg
File:HTTC2014Brooms.jpg
File:HTTC2014CableFactory.jpg
File:HTTC2014ChaiHuo.jpg
File:HTTC2014GiantSewing.jpg
File:HTTC2014Huaqianbei.jpg
File:HTTC2014IEIK2014.jpg
File:HTTC2014SeeedStudio.jpg
File:HTTC2014Shanghai.jpg
File:HTTC2014Tianjin.jpg
File:HTTC2014Tienanmen.jpg
File:HTTC2014TrainConvenienceStore.jpg
File:HTTC2014TsinghuaMakersDay.jpg
File:HTTC20143Nod.jpg
File:HTTC2014XinCheJian.jpg
</gallery>

Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157646894397704/ Beijing, Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157648975298719/ Shanghai, Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157648981933060/ Shenzhen, Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157649396351315/ Kunshan, Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157649148594118/ Shanghai (2), Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157649146775640/ Beijing (2), Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157649146987360/ Tianjin, Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157647372474753/ Beijing (3), Nov-2014] 
Mitch's photos from [https://www.flickr.com/photos/maltman23/sets/72157649287546450/ Singapore, Dec-2014] 

== You will Need a Chinese Visa!! ==
To go to China, you needed to get a visa!

Everyone should get a multiple-entry Tourist L visa (if you only get a single-entry visa, you'll be fine, but you won't have as many options, such as going in and out of Shenzhen to Hong Kong).

* And to get a visa, you need to have a passport that is valid ''at least'' 12 months after you planned to fly away from China (so, e.g., if you are leaving China on 28-October-2017, then your passport needs to be valid through 27-October-2017). Your passport must also have at least ''one entirely blank page''.

* You also need:
** a printout of a filled-out [http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/visas/fd/W020130830801798289342.pdf Visa Application Form V. 2013 of the People's Republic of China] (after we have everything we need I'll email you my filled out form as an example to follow).
** a copy of the information pages of your passport.
** a copy of your most Chinese visa (if you have been to China before).
** one 2"x2" recent color photo (not a printout).
** a screenshot or printout of hotel reservation confirmation (I'll email this to you when I have this).
** a copy of your airline tickets (both to and from China).

* For US citizens, the visa cost $140 (much cheaper for other nationalities). Starting this year, US citizens can get a multiple-entry visa, good for 10 years. We should all apply for a Tourist L visa.

You can pay the fee by Visa, MasterCard, Money Order, Cashier's Check or Company Check. ''Cash or Personal checks are not acceptable.''

To get a visa, you can go to your local Chinese consulate. No appointment is required. You go in one day, and it will be ready for pick up 4 business days later. My experience is that it takes about an hour the first day, and takes only a few minutes to pick up the visa a few days later. (2 to 3 business-day and 1 business day/same-day express service is available for $20 or $30.) 
''NOTE: The Chinese consulates are all closed for holidays on: 27-30 January, 29-30 May, 30-May, 9-June, 4-July, 4-September, 2-October, 9-October and other dates: 
[http://www.chinaconsulatesf.org/eng/lszj/t1424287.htm 2017 Chinese Consulate Holiday Schedule]''
 
(Citizens of US and Europe ''do not'' need a separate visa for Hong Kong.)
 

= Previous Noisebridge China Trips =
''If you're curious about the previous Noisebridge China Trips, they have their own wiki pages:'' 
[[ChinaTrip|Hacker Trip To China 2009]] 
          That first Noisebridge China Trip was inspired by Bunny Huang's [http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/shenzhen/print "geek tour"].
 
[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip2|Hacker Trip To China 2011]]
 
[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip3|Hacker Trip to China 2013]]
 
[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip4|Hacker Trip to China 2014]]
 
[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip5|Hacker Trip to China 2015]]
 
[[NoisebridgeChinaTrip6|Hacker Trip to China 2016]]

--[[user: maltman23 | Mitch]].

= People interested in going on the Hacker Trip to China #7, 2017: =


'''Below is a list of people interested in going on this year's Hacker Trip To China.'''
 


'''You do not need to be a member of Noisebridge to go on this trip!'''
 

'''Please email me if you have any questions, or if you would like to meet up with us on the trip:''' 
''mitch *AT* CornfieldElectronics *DOT* com''

The trip is limited to 20 people total (including Mitch) 
-- the first 19 people (after Mitch) who are either there already, or who bought tickets to meet in our Trip's starting city (tentatively Shanghai) on or before 11-October-2017 are the people who are in this Trip        (which probably means flying away from home on or before 10-October) 


Note: Many people have gotten good deals on their plane fares (including me) with the help of my friend Vlad at:        [http://www.flystein.com/ Flystein] Feel free to email me, and I'll send your email to Vlad, who will be happy to help you with your flights.
 

{| style="color:green; background-color:#ffffcc;" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" border="1"
!
! Name
! Purchased flight?
! Flight info
|-
|1
|[[user: maltman23 | Mitch Altman]] (Noisebridge, San Francisco, USA)
|align="center"|YES
|Arrive: Hong Kong on 6-Oct at 17:10 -- flight CX254 (from LHR)
|-
|2
|Robert Fitzsimons (TOG, Ireland)
|align="center"|YES
|Arrive: Hong Kong on 8-Oct at 15:25 -- EK382 (from DXB); Depart: Shanghai at 00:05 on Oct 29th (Emirates 8303)
|-
|3
|[[user: keymistress | Gloria Chiang]]
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: 'Beijing on (date TBD)
|-
|4
|[[user:juul|Marc Juul]]
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: Beijing on (date TBD)
|-
|5
|Anthony Liekens (Open Garage, Belgium)
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: ''Wants to tag along in Shenzhen''
|-
|6
|Rafael Câmera Santos (Fazedores.com, Brazil)
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: Shenzhen or Hong Kong on (date TBD)
|-
|7
|Jan Marloth (fablab munich, Germany)
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: Shanghai? on (date TBD)
|-
|8
|[[user: feklee | Felix E. Klee]]
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: Consider traveling by ground from Berlin
|-
|9
|[[user: mrericboyd | Eric Boyd]]
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: will arrive in Hong Kong and join for entire trip
|-
|10
|''freeman murray''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: ''oct 8, Hong Kong''
|-
|11
|[[user: sumukh | Sumukh Shetty]]
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: '''8th October HK, join for the entire trip''
|-
|12
|''Jonas S Karlsson''
|align="center"|will be in hk
|Arrive: ''hk''
|-
|13
|''Quijano Flores''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: ''oct 8, Hong Kong''
|-
|14
|''Ruth Grace Wong''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: ''your arrival date and city here''
|-
|15
|''Olivier de Saint-Hubert''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: ''TBD''
|-
|16
|[[user: scitechindian | SYED JUNAID AHMED]] (Makers Hive, AndhraPradesh, INDIA)
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: ''TBD''
|-
|17
|''Mark Hellar''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: 'oct 8, Hong Kong''
|-
|18
|''Noah O'Donoghue''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: ''HKG, probably Oct 8''
|-
|19
|''your name here''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: ''your arrival date and city here''
|-
|20
|''your name here''
|align="center"|no
|Arrive: '''your arrival date and city here''
|-
|}

[[Category:Travel]]
[[Category:Projects]]