Does connections using obfs3 still work in China?

Question

I will be taking a trip to China in a few weeks, and I am wondering whether obfs3 protocol will work in China or not. If not, then could someone suggest a method that can still allow Tor to operate correctly behind the Great Firewall?

Answer 1

The new meek pluggable transport — currently in beta stage — is likely to work as it employs the same tricks than GoAgent, a popular circumvention method in China.

Ready to use bundles are available to test it.

Answer 2

I confirm 100% obfs3 works as I'm using it right now. ( Instead meek does not work, maybe because it relay on Google )

You would need fresh obfs3 bridges, the one in the bundle are not working for me ... ... you can get them on the Tor page, the best option is to ask a friend to do it for you or use the mail service.
- Bridges -> https://bridges.torproject.org/bridges?transport=obfs3

Update
Looks GFW is constantly increase the bridges block so you need to constant update your bridge list with fresh one ...
It would be great to have some meek alternative based on something else than google services ...

Answer 3

According to How to read our China usage graphs and Tor calls for help as its supply of bridges falters, the obfs3 plugin for obfsproxy is still effective in China. What's missing are enough bridges that are running obfs3 and associated software for reporting reliable measures for usage and effectiveness.

I have also read that the GFW may block or throttle encrypted traffic, even if there is no plaintext, and it appears random. Also, I have seen reports that the GFW is more restrictive in rural areas than in large cities. Using Website Test behind the Great Firewall of China, one can test the availability of websites in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.