I've been reading Edward Snowden's book. He mentioned tails, so I downloaded the latest version.

When I start Tor Browser, I get the error message:

I waited quite a long time.

I started Onion Circuits, that shows 3 lines, each the same: under circuits ... and under status launched

If I start Tor Browser anyway, I get an error:

while it is trying to connect to the tails homepage.

I'm in China. To connect to many sites, you need to run a vpn.

Do I need to run Tor Browser through my vpn?

If so, how would I install the vpn in tails? Does tails come with a vpn?

Tor, and thus Tails, itself is a VPN of sorts. What you probably need is a hidden bridge. That's basically a guard node which has not been published ... yet. However the Great Firewall seems to be rather good at deep packet inspection so that might not be enough. Worth a try though.

Yeah, because you're in china, you should reaaaaally use a bridge.

When you start tor, and you press the configure button, it lets you select a bridge, the second bridge is said to work in china.

I've never used tails, so I don't know what it's like in there.