At the end of the summer I am moving to China for the next school year to teach English. Anybody have experience using a macbook in China? Suggestions? Advice?
MacBook
Look up AC power adapter. I used Google and the search phrase "VAC adapter China to US"
Hardware-wise, you need the plug adapter. Can buy the expensive, fancy and Official Apple Travel Kit that comes with all adapters known. Or visit Radio Shack for just what you need at a 10th the cost.
Advise? Clone the Mac onto an external drive and leave that behind in safe storage. Then purge any kind of information that may be used to harm you or your family or that could be construed as anti-Chinese-government. And any proprietary software that could be stolen or misused.
When there, be sure to take all security precautions to avoid theft. But if worse comes to pass, consider that a life is more expensive than a computer, especially if your own. Have a Plan B ready in case of computer loss. They are highly valued by the intelligence services and the criminal elements.
colleenfromsc wrote:
At the end of the summer I am moving to China for the next school year to teach English. Anybody have experience using a macbook in China? Suggestions? Advice?
Leave it at home and buy a cheap PC for use over there. If it breaks and needs repair, replace it instead.
And take note of Courcol's advice.
Before leaving the states, you will definitely want to set up a Virtual Private Network (VPN) that you can use from China. This will provide you with a secure tunnel and allow you to circumvent the Great Firewall - the Chinese Communist Party's internet filtering mechanism:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/03/-the-connection-has-been-res et/306650/
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57444727-93/google-offers-tips-to-help-chinese- steer-clear-of-the-great-firewall/
Aside from what the government does, network security in China is generally poor and malware runs rampant. You'd be well served to error on the side of caution:
- Only use wired internet connections and if you must use wireless, never connect to an unsecured network (good advice to follow anywhere)
- Only access the internet through your VPN once inside China; no foreign business there uses the regular (slow, slow, slow) Chinese internet
- System Preferences > Sharing - make sure everything is disabled
- Consider using an encryption utility like Filevault or (better yet) Truecrypt
While network security in China is an issue, it is a very safe country. You can walk around any large city at any time of the day or night with no problems.
using macbook in china
