Ok this is my contrib, hoping it might be helpful..
I've tried Tor, Hotspot Shield and many other ways, but Ultrasurf is the best proxy program i've found so far.

You can download it from the official website:

www.ultrareach.com/

but it is highly probable the website is currently filtered.
I uploaded an updated version on rapidshare if you want to give a try (only 10 downloads..):

rapidshare.com/files/240376185/u94.exe.html

the program is safe, virus free (check it with any online scan such as www.kaspersky.com/scanforvirus), and unobtrusive.
It also uses encryption, and it's quite fast.

Check it out.

have to agree with Greginchina. I got sick of slow and buggy programs like gladder and got witopia. I do have to pay $40 a year for it, but it's definitely worth it. I can listen to music on Pandora and watch TV on hulu, which are just for North America, and I can also visit any blocked sites no problems, and it's very quick and painless to connect.
It's true recently the Chinese gov is blocking more sites, but also bear in mind that some foreign sites block China because of hacking and spamming.

not really sure HOW you guys are using gladder. I've been in China for 5 years and never had a problem with it. It is NOT buggy, works very quickly, and when on occasion one of the proxies doesn't work, you simply click "change proxy". I've never encountered a situation when I changed the proxy twice and it still didn't work. Why would I pay $40 a year for something that works great and is free!

hey if it works for what you need it for then that's great.

The reason I don't go for proxy services like that is that they are browser based, usually restricted to standard http ports, and often unencrypted.

If you wish to use them for other applications (VOIP, gaming, file sharing, non-browser based email, etc) you'll need to configure each application individually and won't be guaranteed to work.
It may also come a cropper on web-based services that need plugins such as realplayer, quicktime etc because even though they appear to be in a browser they are making their connection through the 3rd party plugin which is not configured for the proxy.

That is where having something like a VPN comes into play because it sends all your internet traffic (regardless of which application you're using) through an encrypted connection which makes using stuff like the BBC iplayer (which has geolocation restrictions) run really smoothly.
It also seems to speed everything up (for sites outside China) because the GFW doesn't bother trying to inspect the data packets.

However, if all your internet traffic goes through one single web browser (ie firefox) and you don't use any plugins that use other applications then you're fine. Although I do find the extra speed I seem to get with VPN rather than a standard proxy very helpful. I can watch youtube videos on a China Telecom ADSL connection without needing to wait for the video to buffer.

Just seen this: www.reuters.com/[...]

Scary stuff. I wonder if that software will be installed on top of the Operating system (in which case it can be wiped over) or will be hard programmed into the chipset.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. I would imagine that this is only enforceable on the big legit vendors like HP, Compaq, Acer, etc. Most people still go the the small vendors that assemble to order.

Much akin to the cracked version of PSP, Wii, and the like that has flooded the market, the Chinese capitalist will find a way around the block in pursuit of easy money.

Remember, pornography has been banned since the founding of PRC and yet you can go to any dvd shop and find them on open display, imagine that!

thats true for desktops but not really for notebooks.

I wonder what Apple is going to do...it's required that the software be installed on all computers sol in China, but there is no mac version.

nor would there be a linux version. and unless Microsoft China are forced into issuing it as part of their OEM windows it would be easily removed with right know how hopefully. If it does nothing else it will increase sales of pirated versions of windows.

it seems that www.danwei.org is now blocked.

Thank you net nanny for your ever benevolent wisdom!