I live in China and use Skype often: Skype-to-skype calls work no problem, but Skype-to-phone calls are indeed blocked. Skype-to-phone calls work on the first second or so, and then the call sounds like "scrambled" (for a lack of better word to describe), very noisy so you cannot hear the other side. I make Skype-to-phone calls using a VPN, which works just fine.<p>You can make Skype-to-phone calls with Tom-Skype (the Chinese Skype partner), but you need to buy credits through their system.
In case anyone was wondering, Ebay's partnership with Tom-Skype is simply to give the Chinese government a back door through Skype's security. If you are using Skype in China, DO NOT use Tom-Skype. Find a way to get the real thing.<p>An old blog post of mine:<p><a href="http://blog.stacktrace.com/2008/10/02/chinese-monitor-tom-skype-chat/" rel="nofollow">http://blog.stacktrace.com/2008/10/02/chinese-monitor-tom-sk...</a>