>>ethan_+Ba
seems to be working in China. While many Chinese use VPN software, many don't bother with the friction and are fine just using rednote and friends.
>>winrid+Lh
For a self-hosted VPN, you'll need to use a protocol that is specifically designed to be resilient to censorship. VLESS, for example. Things like WireGuard and OpenVPN are very easily detected.