@thewonderer,
anniversary of Tiananmen Square massacre (June 4th)

It is the anniversary of some troubled times in China's past. Chinese internet control is, I believe, getting worse and more absurd by the year. While a lot of it appears to be done for protectionist reasons (protection of local industry that is) more and more it seems to be stopping the population from forming their own opinions. This sort of talk is getting dangerous now though so be careful what you post.

Understood.

All I want to do is access my gmail and google calendar when I come over. That is why I have posted on this thread.

Then you better pay for a VPN. After this June affair, there will be other net breakdowns, like the October one. This assumes we go back to normal after this one, which is what usually happens, but like the visa policy in China, you never know.

still unbearably slow with VPN.

@bluppfisk

That's what those spare batteries for android phones are for.

visiting family in US now and from what i am reading Google block might not be temporary.

Would you please post links to what you're reading?

Just pay for a VPN. Absolutely necessary if you want real access to the internet and to be able to use Google services (almost) unhindered. Choose your VPN carefully. Mine isn't as cheap as some but is running at a decent speed without glitches and has excellent customer service. Any problems, just shoot them an email and you will be attended to within 10 minutes. 24 hour service.

For some reason it seems I can get google slightly more easily lately with Internet Explorer than with Firefox - anybody else notice this?