I understand the "don't want to encourage hotels to charge for internet"...but even the most high-end hotels are not going to charge US$30/day for internet...having said that, at least with your iPhone, you will have data 'on the go', which is useful e.g. for google maps, which I find invaluable in China.

I'm sure they are here, but I don't see much mifi usage in China...

tb