I couldn’t use Tor inside China, I tried but did not establish a connection. Didn’t dig into it also.

I travelled to China in October 2023. I have a Wireshark VPN running at home with my internet provider (dinamic IP), and it worked for few hours (about 6) and they ban the IP. Resetting the router and getting a new made it work for another few hours.

As others suggested the vpn traffic is encrypted but very easy to detect. I read about some protocols that can bypass it like shadow shocks but I didn’t have time to tinkering (it was my first time in China).

I ended by using the service provided by 12vpx and it worked flawlessly. Someone recommended it and it is specialized in provided access in china with lots of gateways. I never had problems with this provider.

Probably there are others that also work but that is my experience.