Internet users in China have long discovered the swathes of sites that exist allowing users to browse anonymously – but the problems with these is that many don’t work with certain mechanisms like Ajax, it’s less convenient to browse the net through a proxy, and it generally only works for HTTP/FTP protocols.
Others have discovered that creating a simple VPN link to an overseas server allows your whole computer to be transparently connected via a secure link (where the censors cannot monitor) to the host – but this routes all traffic and can be slow particularly for local sites.
Since we use a linux server as our internet gateway, it’s easy to build a permanent VPN link through an overseas server and selectively perform NAT based on destination IP. The result : fast internet locally, but unfettered access to usually blocked sites.
Whatever the “technical problems” that might exist in China, it is certain that the authorities will be fighting a losing battle on this one.
