Today, I wanted to try to see how the Internet looks behind the Great Firewall
of China. I used a public HTTP proxy list (http://spys.ru/free-proxy-list/CN/)
listing Chinese proxy servers (meaning getting into Chinese censorship from the
US, not bypassing it in China), and guess what? I was already blocked. Why? I
suspect that I was running a Tor relay from my home connection
(https://atlas.torproject.org/#details/A20840A16CB658024B0D3A0E3F19A9C0E34C843F).
Some Chinese websites do load, but many of those who do usually have a
CDN outside the Chinese firewall. For example, I can visit AliExpress from my
home computer without Tor, but I can't visit 163.com or 2345.com.
While I don't care at all for Chinese websites, there are people who
do. If you want to access Chinese websites AND run a Tor relay on the same IP
address, you may be screwed. Surprisingly, I can sometimes visit Chinese
websites over Tor, but it's about as reliable as having Comcast as your home
ISP.
Proof: telnet 2345.com
Optimum Online 100/35 in Westchester County, NY, home computer on same
connection as Tor middle node
(https://atlas.torproject.org/#details/A20840A16CB658024B0D3A0E3F19A9C0E34C843F):
neel@megora:~ % telnet 2345.com 80 Trying 42.62.30.180... telnet:
connect to address 42.62.30.180: Operation timed out telnet: Unable to connect
to remote host neel@megora:~ %
Verizon FiOS 50/50 in Brooklyn, NY, Tor middle node
(https://atlas.torproject.org/#details/D5B8C38539C509380767D4DE20DE84CF84EE8299)
(this connection isn't exclusive to Tor, it's used when I am in Brooklyn as
well):
neel@kat:~ % telnet 2345.com 80 Trying 42.62.30.180... telnet: connect
to address 42.62.30.180: Operation timed out telnet: Unable to connect to
remote host neel@kat:~ %
Total Server Solutions in Los Angeles, CA (via an ITL VPS), Tor exit
node
(https://atlas.torproject.org/#details/0D8211D34F29F51D690303E319766E1B7C28BADB):
neel@us-west:~ % telnet 2345.com 80 Trying 42.62.30.180... telnet:
connect to address 42.62.30.180: Operation timed out telnet: Unable to connect
to remote host neel@us-west:~ %
Vultr VPS in New Jersey, non-Tor IP used for this website:
neel@newwww:~ % telnet 2345.com 80 Trying 42.62.30.180... Connected to
2345.com. Escape character is '^]'. ^] telnet> quit Connection closed.
neel@newwww:~ %
It seems that IP addresses used for Tor nodes are blocked by the
Chinese firewall, even if the same IP address used for a Tor node is accessing
a Chinese website outside of Tor. And the little bit of the Chinese Internet
which can be accessed on the same IP address as a Tor node is usually on a CDN
outside of the Great Firewall.
Keep in mind that this article is also available on my website at this URL:
https://www.neelc.org/psa-if-youre-running-a-tor-relay-and-are-accessing-a-chinese-ip-address-you-may-get-blocked/
(https://www.neelc.org/psa-if-youre-running-a-tor-relay-and-are-accessing-a-chinese-ip-address-you-may-get-blocked/)
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