Sunday, November 29, 2009

Stay Clear of China Railway ISP

Today just a brief word of warning for those who may be searching the internet for information on the China Railway internet service provider (Tie tong 铁通) – steer clear! Their speeds are absolutely abysmal. I often get service comparable to that of dial up ISPs in the US.

Any other service (though there are very few available currently) would be better. Sadly, Chinese society being stuck in a cultural time warp/prison means that you can’t get people to do anything without whining at them for a few hours first. Is this the fault of the CCP or just the traditional “5000 year” culture? I may never know – but I have not been able to get my internet serviced switched to a different provider - though I have tried (and - to be fair - given up). Last month when the one year contract expired, my landlord didn’t even bother to ask me – he just renewed the contract and sent me a bill.

Anyhow – beware of China Railway internet, unless you enjoy hours of sitting in front of your computer watching discs spin and hour glasses invert themselves.