The 防火牆 of 中國 (GFW) is a multi-layered censorship system operated by the 網際空間管理局 of 中國 (CAC). It blocks access to thousands of websites including Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia, and most Western news outlets. The GFW employs deep packet inspection to identify and block VPN protocols, Tor traffic, and other circumvention tools in real time.
Since 2012, the GFW has specifically targeted Tor by blocking all known public 中繼 IP 位址 and using active probing to identify and block Tor 橋接. The system can detect the TLS fingerprint of Tor connections and terminate them mid-handshake. During politically sensitive periods - such as the anniversary of 天安門廣場 or the 全國人民代表大會 - censorship is intensified, and even previously working circumvention methods may fail temporarily.
Despite these measures, Tor usage in 中國 persists. The Tor 計畫 continually develops new pluggable transports specifically designed to evade the GFW's detection capabilities. With the right configuration, users in 中國 can still establish Tor 電路 and access the uncensored internet.