Youku is a fan favorite when it comes to watching movies, with a strong emphasis on the latest blockbusters. However, you’ll require a VPN to unblock the prime content of the ‘Chinese YouTube’, because it’s only available within mainland China. We tested the platform ourselves and were able to watch some user uploaded videos, but to be honest we had no idea what were we watching – VPN is our forte, not Mandarin. However, what we could easily understand was that the most desired and exclusive full length movies are geo-blocked, since searching for Finding Dory or Fast and Furious turned up empty. Using a VPN with a server located in China is your best shot at gaining access to Youku’s movies, while simultaneously fending off the snooping attempts of the government. Because China is the most repressive country in regards to online access, being under the umbrella of a VPN opens up a whole new world for you.
Youku was founded by Victor Koo in June 2006 and quickly became the biggest video hosting website in China. This most likely comes from the fact that the good-old YouTube that we have in the west is blocked in the country ever since the Chinese government decided to crush it under the might of its Great Firewall. It was only a matter of time that this empty space left by the American service was replaced by the country’s own initiative. However, Youku isn’t simply YouTube with the Chinese alphabet, since it approaches video streaming in a new light; Youku users – even if they are foreigners – are able to upload a video of any length. It’s worth keeping in mind that the Government of China actively checks for inappropriate or offensive videos as part of the internet censorship measures in the country.
But perhaps the main difference is that Youku partnered with thousands of license holders, rounding up the most popular TV stations, distributors, film and TV production companies in China. This allows the website to be regularly updated with professional media content rather than solely with a lot of amateur videos, as happens with YouTube. Although efforts have been made over the years to tighten copyright laws in China, they are still not as tight as American ones. This enables Youku to have a vast range of content available for free, including full length movies, TV shows, music concerts and more.
Using a VPN can therefore provide access to this entire range of blockbuster movies and Youku’s most exclusive content. A website reads your IP address to know where you are accessing it from, and if it detects that you are a sneaky foreigner hailing from outside of the borders of China then you can kiss your Youku access goodbye. In this case you’ll need a service like PureVPN, for instance, that has six servers installed in China and another extra eight in Hong Kong. When you connect to one of these you’ll be attributed an IP address corresponding to that country, which means that once you visit Youku again the website will read your fake IP address and consider you to be a Chinese inhabitant, opening all previously locked doors for you. In addition, you’ll want a VPN provider that keeps no logs of your online activity and, most important, doesn’t limit bandwidth, since streaming full length movies will most likely result in a rather high usage.
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