I'm an American living in China, and I'll tell you, unless you're prepared before you come to here, it's going to be difficult finding software to get on Facebook in China. There are tons of services out there. VPNs and proxies are the most popular - well the only kinds of service that do this anyway, but tons of them are blocked, and just as many are worth the money, so it leaves you between a rock and a hard place as the saying goes.

To get on Facebook in China on your phone, you're going to need a web based proxy. There aren't many of these around - actually only one that I can think of. I never really like using these because it can be inconvenient to have to access the secure browser link. Because there's nothing to install (which is actually great about it), it means that you have to access the secure browser from somewhere. This can be from the main site or from the link they send you to your email. VPNs are not an option here because L2TP and PPTP VPN protocols for phones and tablets are blocked. They are built differently that SSL/OpenVPN, and were blocked earlier this year.

For Mac, Windows, and Linux you can use what I just mentioned - SSL/OpenVPN. This goes under a few different names, mainly SSL or OpenVPN. It's basically the master of VPN protocols and nothing can break it. This is why it still works in China. This is what I'm running right now on my Windows XP. Of course, you don't have to get this - the web based proxy will also allow you to get on Facebook in China on your laptop. A VPN has the advantage however, of giving you advanced security features that a proxy cannot. Anyone who knows anything about hiding your IP address online knows that SSL/OpenVPN is the way to go. Some say that it can be slower that other VPN protocols because it's so heavily protected, but you haven't really got a choice in China. It's either SSL/OpenVPN or no VPN.

What do I use to get on Facebook in China? I use both actually. Sure, I've got to pay a bit more, but at just over 100 dollars for the TWO services for one year, it's more than worth it. That means that I can use the VPN at home on my personal computer. I just leave it running all day. As soon as I turn on my computer in the morning, I just leave it running in the background so I don't have to worry about signing in and out whenever I need to access the Internet. With the way China's blocking sites recently, I always run into sites that were up yesterday and blocked today.

Then I use the web based proxy on my phone (so I don't get bored on the bus) and I of course use it as work when I have time between classes or am waiting for a meeting. Because there's nothing to install it means that you can access the secure link from anywhere. It also means that you don't have to install updates like on the VPN because they're installed for you by the web based proxy service.