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.