Speed

All you people back in the US with your lightning fast internet, you don't know how good you have it. There is nothing more frustrating in China, and that's saying a lot, than having your internet crawl along, or not work, when you really need it to. When I stayed in my parents apartment in Beijing recently I was amazed just how slow the internet there is. My internet in Guangzhou isn't anywhere near US standards, maybe 1/4 or 1/3rd as fast, but theirs is much, much slower. Of all the places I've lived I think Changzhou was the slowest. It could in part be that I just wasn't used to how slow things are here, but it was slow. Youtube videos, even using a VPN, were just impossible to load, and even things like Skype or internet radio were a 50/50 bet. In Alaer amazingly enough the internet was fairly fast. This was mostly because I could pay for my own internet plan and not be on the same shitty connection as the students. The first place I lived in Guangzhou had really slow internet as well, but in my new apartment the speed is pretty good. Since I share it with the students it slows down noticeably in the evening and on weekends. It is interesting how having a slow internet connection changes how I browse. If I see a video I usually avoid it rather than going through the hassle of waiting 45 minutes while it loads up. Websites that try to do a lot with flash and graphics I also usually avoid. It's also interesting how much faster Chinese websites are. I don't usually have much reason to go to them, as they are of course in Chinese, but when I do they load shockingly quickly. Maybe that's why these slow internet speed are bearable for Chinese people, or maybe they just don't know any better.