Plus I would avoid all the usual suspects for satellite TV - we had a system installed a year ago. It stopped working after 6 months and I have no idea why - could be the decryption server, could be the satellite position, who knows? Can I get hold of the company that set it up? Can I f***k?

Stick with the Internet. There's very little that isn't available for download even if you can't stream it but I would recommend streaming through a VPN as mentioned above.

If you really want "ordinary American or British programming" then you're not going to find it through hooking up a satellite dish. The BBC World channel shows the same program every hour with very little variation, HBO Asia mostly shows movies you've already seen - you're not going to get the latest episodes of Curb your Enthusiasm, Entourage etc. It is not the same HBO.

The best way to watch actual British or American TV is to get a VPN and watch online. With my UK VPN I can watch any program from the last week or two on the BBC iplayer and even more content from Channel 4 through their cooperation with youtube - they need to see a UK IP address for this to work hence the need for a VPN.

It should work ok. Are you not getting any GPS lock at all or is your location a few hundred metres out?

Google Maps data for China is a few hundred metres out and it varies by city.

You can download a free app called GPS Info which will give your exact longitude and lattitude and also tell you if you are receiving that info through cellular triangulation or through gps. It usually takes a few seconds and clear line of sight to the sky to switch from cellular to GPS.

@timkunming - it depends on what type of 3G radio and which network you are on. If you bought a phone that uses China Mobile's home grown TD-SCDMA technology then it should work with China Mobile's 3G service. This is extremely unlikely unless you actually bought it through the network. IT is more likely using the international WCDMA 3G standard in which case it will only work with China Unicom's 3G.

To make things even more confusing the networks here seem to actually charge separately for 3G and 2G services and even have different phone numbers for the new 3G services. Outside China you simply pay for a package which includes data and if your phone happens to support 3G it will run on 3G, if it doesn't it will run on GPRS/EDGE - the prices are essentially the same, just the speed and technology different.

In China you need to specifically get a 3G package which are often more expensive than 2G packages. For example if you have been using China Unicom on 2G you won't just automatically be able to use 3G just by having a suitable handset - they will have to set it up for you and in some cases give you a new phone number.

@pyscho - i've not used the HTC legend but have no reason to believe it won't work. Again it depends on the radio inside and what network you are using.

GPS works in China but the satellite data for google maps is a few hundred metres out of kilter so it doesn't work too well. this varies by city. there are ways to correct it on android and there are iphone apps that also attempt to correct it.

it is not to extend an F visa. extensions can only be done within mainland China. Outside mainland China you can only get a new visa. An extension can only happen when you are inside the country using the visa you want to extend.

Its a chain of Hong Kong travel agents that i've used a few times to get visas.

I'm afraid I don't know their Chinese name but they're easy to find as they have branches all over the city.