Originally Posted by
StuckInYYZ
True. However many rural places will not register foreigners due to the hassle.it is for them.
That said, I wonder with China rapidly modernizing, whether the tracking is going to tighten up. And if they're going to hook up to any of the booking portals to track foreigners.
If you or your hosts don't want to deal with self registration, simply stay at an approved hotel for a single night. This will get you registered in the system.