If you’ve been having problems accessing our homepage, and being redirected to some random Chinese search engine called 114 then I’m afraid we can only humbly apologise. Due to the unique way that China Telecom works, when our server hits overload most of our traffic gets redirected directly to them.

Unfortunately there is no way for us to correct this problem. We had hoped that the new site and new server would resolve this problem but I’m afraid it hasn’t worked.

If you are experiencing this problem, you will need to do a couple of things to be able to reach us again.

1. Flush the dns on your system. (Don’t ask me what this is, I don’t have a clue. Our I.T team just told me how to do this.)

2. Empty your cache on your web browser.

This should reset something in your computer (and web browser) and allow you to directly access our homepage again.

If you don’t know how to do it (like me) then follow this simple guide that my boss has kindly given me.

Primary Instructions

The following instructions are tested and work on the platforms Vista/ Windows 7. If, after executing the primary instructions the problem still exists, there are additional instructions for resolving this problem.

• Step 1

Click on the start/windows icon to open up the dashboard panel. An example is shown below.

• Step 2

Type ‘cmd’ in the start search box. The first result should come up with a small black icon with the file name ‘

• Step 3

The previous action will open a terminal window. In this terminal window type the following command. ‘ipconfig/flushdns’. After hitting the enter key, you should be greeted with the response......

‘Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache’. It should look like this on your screen.

Close the window, and then clear the ‘cache’ in your browser. Depending on what browser you are using, it is slightly different. But you be able to find the option or settings list somewhere in your browser. This should now resolve the’114 problem’.

In certain cases, this may not work. If so, please follow the secondary instructions below.

Secondary Instructions

The following instructions are for users who are still rerouted to 114 when trying to log onto particular sites.

• Step 1

Right-click on the internet connection sign at the bottom right-hand side of the taskbar. On Vista this should be a monitor with a globe on it. It should like this.

• Step 2

Click the ‘Manage Network Connections’ link in the left hand column. In Windows 7 this may be the ‘Change Adapter Settings’ option.

• Step 3

Right-click the active connection, which will usually be a ‘Wireless Network Connection’ on a laptop and a ‘Local Area Connection’ on a Desktop. Don’t worry about previous semantics; just ensure that you right click the connection with which you are connected to the internet. From the popup menu, select ‘Properties’.

• Step 4

There will be a popup window on whether to allow administrative privileges, just click continue. The properties window will then open. In this window select the ‘Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP /IPv4) list item so it is highlighted and click ‘Properties’.

• Step 5

Insert the actual DNS records necessary to work anywhere near convenient in China. Select ‘Use the following DNS Server addresses and set the preferred DNS server to ‘202.109.14.5’. Set the alternate DNS server to ‘124.74.213.68’. This action is depicted below. After this is done click ‘OK’ and this window will close. Close the remaining window and repeat the ‘Primary Instructions’ listed at the beginning of the article.

So that’s it. According to our I.T team that’s how you crack the 114 problem. We know it’s a pain and our I.T team is searching for a way round this process. However because the problem is directly related to China Telecom, it is not as easy as to completely fix as we had hoped. I hope the guide has proved helpful and not put you off visiting us.

ShanghaiExpat