Is there really any reason you need to update your system while you're in china?

If you're on the road I highly recommend against making any changes to your computer...even minor ones. Updates sometimes cause problems and I wouldn't risk having a non-working laptop when traveling. Even if you are very tech-savvy (as I am), a problem that takes even a few hours to fix could potentially ruin your entire trip if it is scheduled tightly.

Even worse...what if you lose your data? Even if it is backed up, how are you going to quickly get access to that backed up data?

If you do really need/want to update, I find it much easier to download the patches/fixes "for IT professionals" rather than use windows update. You can easily use the USA English site and download a simple file or twelve.