Au contraire, when you look at China overall, the service charge phenomenon is at a relatively small minority of locations--pretty much limited to the sorts of international label hotels and fancier restaurants that foreign visitors and upper crust locals like to haunt. Since this was your overwhelming impression, I can only conclude that your visit had you living on the higher end of the hog and not experiencing a full range of China offerings. The Service Charge Establishments are places I mostly try to avoid (at least if it's on my own dime). It's possible to have a perfectly agreeable existence or visit to China without encountering much of this.