By continuing you agree to eChinacities's Privacy Policy .
Sign up with Google
Sign up with Facebook
Q: What is the cheapest, fastest way for me to access my gmail?
It is the only email I use; I have no western credit cards with me so it either needs to be a free VPN or one that I can purchase with my wife’s Chinese bank card. All I need is a few days of unrestricted access to my gmail to reset my skype password, and send one or two emails. Can I get a vpn without having a working email account or a western payment method? Thanks 
This google crap is getting to be real bullsh_t. When looking for a hotel in Korea the maps on C-trip don’t seem to work, so I am guessing they are google maps?
9 years 47 weeks ago in Web & Technology - China
Get an email address with another email provider, then you can use that email address to get a vpn. If your wife has a credit or debit card you should be able to use that to pay for it. You may also want to look into vpns which offer a free trial period.
Sync your Gmail with your smartphone. I have a Galaxy S4 and I can always access my gmail account through the sync, with and without VPN, 3g and Wifi it's all good.
my gmail app on android or iphone works pretty good. You can also try to download thunderbird. it is an email client that does a pretty good job without a vpn. It uses a server that is not blocked. It may not work with your current settings if you do not have pop mail enabled which would require you to log into the web based gmail. You can try it and delete it if it doesn't work.
http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird
I HATE this answer...but the best solution might be to ask someone back home to order the VPN for you. They aren't expensive, you can get one for $50 for a year.
Stiggs:
That's a good idea, as long as he can contact people at home without using his email.
Actually...I forgot about this but there ARE companies here that will sell you VPN equipped routers.
Like a wifi box that has a VPN configured for it so any device on the wifi gets a VPN.
Go to wherever they sell computer stuff in your town and ask about them...someone will probably know. Obviously this is something you would just pay cash for.
I don't have one personally, but somebody was telling me they had this and it sounded pretty awesome. Have your computer streaming hulu plus on your TV while you have facebook chat on your tablet. The only thing you'd need a traditional VPN for is for your smartphone while you're out. And even that's a luxury you can likely do without if you got by with no VPN at all.I don't know how much it would cost, but even for more than $50 USD or so...it would be pretty sweet to have your whole house VPNd
expatlife26:
Yeah burak that's the way to do it...I'm almost talking myself into getting one, though for work reasons I need a VPN for my phone anyway so i'd be stuck paying for two. I can be somewhat cheap and stubborn.
but anyway yeah OP you definitely can buy a VPN here within China paying cash strictly.
and frankly that's a much more versatile solution than just having the traditional one so long as you don't absolutely need 100% reliable email on your phone.
expatlife26:
I can't because I don't think places like this would have links and websites as they circumvent censorship laws.
It'll just be a dude who goes to your house and sets up (what i'm guessing is) a standard wifi router with a VPN config script built in.
If I was going to get one I start by going to the wholesale computer market in your city...you know, the place they sell routers and computer components and theres a million little stands all selling the same things, and asking around. Somebody there will probably be able to point you in the right direction.
Here' an idea that works For my wife. She opened an outlook/hotmail account and set up the mail collector to get her gmail.
The smartphone synch mentioned above works too
Here' an idea that works For my wife. She opened an outlook/hotmail account and set up the mail collector to get her gmail.
The smartphone synch mentioned above works too
expatlife26:
thats a smart idea, figure out some kind of forwarding scheme.
Goagent has been updated and works again, it's a appengine based proxy developed by a guy who used to work on the great firewall 3 years ago, he's now living in Canada and forbidden to go back to China, proof that his software is a real treat for the Chinese authorities.
I just wanted to say thanks to all of you for your help and advice on this matter. I finally got onto my gmail and reset my skype password. I managed to make a few calls and found out the loved one I will be going home to care for may only have 3 months to live 
I also want to say thanks to the CCP for making my last few weeks in China a real pain in the ass. I will be certain to be much more prepared when I come back, with multiple back up plans for my communications and finances or just not come back.
sorrel:
that sucks.
the ability to communicate with family and friends at home is sometimes the only way to stay grounded here.
Disrupting the internet will make some people think twice about traveling to China to work.
I hope you are able to spend all the time you want with your loved one
The best idea to acces gmail in China is to setup outlook express or mozilla thunderbird to access gmail , its working great for me.
I made it back on to my gmail about a week ago. Two weeks to go then I am out of here. Thanks for all the advice
