We went to Chinese Embassy today to get our visas for a trip in October. It really is quite easy to do it in person. They are actually pretty organized. If you haven't heard, the price is going up $50 on 1 August which was reason we went today. It will be $100 for single or double (increase of $25) entry visa. They just quoted us rate of 6,000-en (no option for USD) so I assume it will go up to 12,000-en.
Marc