Help needed: paranoid about traveling to China

[fiqiluvo.epileto]

@hydride

Let alone being foreign people.

1st link in search results:
https://osac.gov/Content/Report/77b1dc96-82d6-497f-9836-1c4f67baa024

China Is Forcing Tourists to Install Text-Stealing Malware at its Border

Please don’t argue for the sake of arguing

[beantaco]

@palatablesalve8462 Do you have any remaining questions about traveling to China?

[hydride]

I spent 99% of my life in China mainland.

[hydride]

The northwest side is much stricter… but I can make sure that foreigners are still treated better than local people. The last time I visit Inner Mongolia they did nothing.

[palatablesalve8462]

thanks for the warning.

If sim numbers weren’t free in your country, how many would you pay for?

[palatablesalve8462]

@fiqiluvo.epileto

Buy a spare and cheap second phone for china domestic apps. Don’t expect VPN leaks to not happen unless you absolutely know how your provider has configured sing-box/xray/Mihomo for you (some providers rely on Clash API to push app configs or just prebundle configs into their forks).

@EsperZero I can’t afford 2 phone in addition to the one I already have, do I really need 1 separate phone to use specifically in use for china and 1 separate phone for china domestic apps?

@fiqiluvo.epileto

I’ve tested Mullvad and iVPN in 4 prefectures already and can confidently say that, at least for now, QUIC isn’t blocked. You might need to request an IP override from Mullvad. Alternatively, i can give you some private suggestions regarding VPN providers that are working in China if you’re comfortable with setting up sing-box/clash apps.

I have no idea what any of this means, but I am willing to learn if you could provide more info as I’d love to hear what you have to say

@fiqiluvo.epileto

It’s common for Chinese border patrol to inspect foreigner devices if they travel to lhasa, for example. If you need to do remote work - just set up a Rustdesk connection beforehand. I wouldn’t bring personal devices with the info to China, you’ll just draw unwanted attention to yourself.

I don’t need to do remote work, but how does Chinese border patrol inspect foreigner devices? do they ask for your devices and make you wait while they take it away to another room? Also, could you clarify “I wouldn’t bring personal devices with the info to China, you’ll just draw unwanted attention to yourself.”?

[palatablesalve8462]

@beantaco

Thus without carrying your normal devices into China you will need to devise ways to

1. Safely access the data that you will need in China.
2. Communicate with people outside China while you are in China.
3. Whatever else you need to do while you are in China.

Got it, I will make sure to do so henceforth.

@beantaco

I second the dedicated China travel phone recommendation. Further, carrying your normal devices, which contain all your data, apps, setup etc, into China or anywhere internationally is risky.

Am I cooked if I have already done so? I communicated with others in other countries using a VPN but via Messages app on my iphone instead of Signal like @EsperZero suggested and ofc the NSFW part in my post that I’m ashamed to admit.

[palatablesalve8462]

No, but I will buy an esim with a phone number beforehand

[palatablesalve8462]

What is Karing used for? I found the GitHub but I don’t understand it