UPDATE: As of 2/15/10 this method for watching CCTV online no longer works due to some change CCTV has made on their end regarding streaming. Once I figure out how to fix this, I’ll post another update.

There’s nothing like a lazy-Sunday of simply laying in bed or on the couch and flipping channels all afternoon. Unfortunately this becomes boring quickly when you only have 2 channels like I have. I guess I could buy myself a satellite dish but I can’t justify the purchase. Fortunately I stumbled across a great blog post from Bill Glover, another expat from the UK. Bill had discovered that it was possible to watch CCTV streaming live online.

For those of you who are interested in learning Chinese, watching CCTV can be an invaluable resource. In fact, students ask me how they can learn more English and I recommend watching some easy TV shows and movies. So it only makes sense that we Chinese learners should do the same.

A quick and dirty way to watch CCTV: use VLC Media Player

1. Open VLC
2. File > Open Network
3. Copy URL of the desired channel into the dialogue box
4. Click “Open” and enjoy

Unfortunately, I think this method is a bit tedious, so I’ve simplified it by creating an M3U playlist, which can easily be played in Windows Media Player, Winamp, VLC, etc. This makes it much easier to “channel surf” and enjoy watching TV again. Grab the playlist here: http://drop.io/cctvplaylist

To give props, where they’re due, check out Bill Glover’s site: http://billglover.co.uk/

My friends and I are big enough nerds that this seemed like a great idea. A great idea to sit around, drink beer, and talk about computers and stuff, kinda like normal. Well, except that I’m in China, and they’re in America. My buddy Evan, a self-professed nerd, fellow Electrical Engineer, and tech nut, scored himself a Windows 7 launch party kit. It was decked out with streamers, napkins, some promotional materials, and a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate signed by Microsoft’s CEO, Steve Ballmer. This kit was received early so that you could play with Windows 7 and tell all your friends and neighbors how wonderful it was! Well if you’re tech-savvy at all, you’ve probably been running a Windows 7 release candidate copy on your computer for months now. I have been running Windows 7 since the beta came out… like February.

Apparently Evan went all out for the party and even got his girlfriend to bake a cake and frost it like the Windws orb logo! We had even talked about having the first online streaming launch party ever*! The night came and I sent Evan a message on Twitter, “Get on Skype! I’m here for the party!” Five minutes later and I was in the middle of the party on Evan’s tv, 3000 miles around the world. It was fun, I was able to talk to a few people that I hadn’t had much chance to talk to, give the dozen or so friends of mine a tour of my apartment (including my 3 toilets), and enjoy shooting the shit with them. The only thing I missed out on was the beer, it’s not that I don’t have any, I just didn’t really feel like drinking any since it was still 10 AM! The nerdery was off the chart as we enjoyed our Windows 7 launch party. Great idea Microsoft!

My view of the party

*Well probably not ever, in fact I’m sure someone’s already done it, but it was a first for us!