Setting up a site on a chinese domain

Are there any rules/laws for using it.

[gazraa]

I have a client who wants part of their site translated into chinese and hosted on a chinese domain .com.cn
All the translation is sorted, I just need to build the thing.

I would like to keep the hosting under my control with a package I have set up in the states.

Firstly, how do I go about registering a .com.cn domain.

Secondly, is it ok to host outside of china for a chinese domain.

Thirdly, anything else I should be prepared for when building these pages. How straight forward is it?

Cheers

[bill]

We had a good thread about the pros and cons of hosting in China not too long ago: The importance of hosting Top Sites in China; Myth or Reality? [webmasterworld.com]

Although the trend nowadays is to tell everyone that they must host locally in practice that doesn't always work as planned. I host Chinese sites outside China and don't seem to be any worse for wear. You may want to do some access testing to see whether there is an appreciable difference in speeds. However, it would be advised that you optimize your code for speed as there are some special connectivity issues with China. The Great Firewall of China can cause connectivity slowdowns or blockages, so you'll want to confirm that your current setup performs reasonably.

how do I go about registering a .com.cn domain.

The best place to start looking for a registrar and domain information is CNNIC [cnnic.net.cn]. There are plenty of registrars with English interfaces that will let you register these domains.

is it ok to host outside of china for a chinese domain.

Yes. There are no requirements that you must host a .cn domain in any specific location.

[gazraa]

thanks Bill, I'll have to see if my clients contacts in China can test getting to some of my sites before I set up hosting with my normal setup.

much appreciated, cheers

[leunga]

For one reason or another, a site may or may not be accessible from China. To avoid it, you simply need to ensure that the site contains no illegal or sensitive content. I think it is a universal requirement.

[aqua]

we have a bilingual site and you just have to make sure the chinese pages are encoded in gb2312 for the mainlanders or big 5 for taiwan/hong kong.

our site is hosted in the US and our chinese users need to find a proxy to access our site but the speed tend to be slow. nevertheless, we still get a lot of chinese traffic.