I've stayed at that Holiday Inn Express. It's tucked in a quiet residential street, one block from Suzhou Creek, which has an excellent pathway for walking, running, and cycling. The neighborhood does have a "burb" feel, but it's really just a nondescript part of a maniacal city.

Wenzhou (Southern Zhejiang) to Xuzhou (Northern Jiangsu) is 900 km, and there are many interesting places to explore in between (e.g. Hangzhou, Suzhou, Putuoshan), but I'm guessing you have Beijing in mind. Honestly, it would be pretty easy to go there and back undetected, as long as you don't register, but I am not advocating this.

To be specific, you can travel and stay anywhere in Shanghai Municipality, Zhejiang Province and Jiangsu Province. That's a very large area, but you can't go up to Beijing, for example. Don't even consider it.

While clearly illegal, apart from Tibet, China does not, at present, have facilities to restrict the movements of foreigners in country.

As I mentioned above, I do not advocate violating TWOV rules.

Hotels get quite edgy when you turn up on a UK passport with no visa, even when they can see your entry stamp (I know from experience). I'd imagine if you tried to check in to a hotel in Beijing with a TWOV from Shanghai, they might kick off...

There are many ways to stay overnight in China that don't entail registration. In fact, my current landlord --who rents rooms out on airbnb type services-- doesn't even offer to register her guests unless they are applying for RPs.

A foreigner would need to submit their passport to purchase a HSR ticket, and this information might pop up onto the computer screen at exit immigration. I do NOT recommend going to Beijing with TWOV.

Entering pp details into a computer is not currently required for buying plane tickets (visual ID checks only), buses don't care, and obviously it's a non issue if you drive yourself or with others in a private vehicle.

Somewhat off topic, before the Tibet entry policy was strictly enforced, it was quite common for foreigners of Asian ethnicity to travel there sans permit, and I'm guessing determined folks still find ways to slip through the cracks.

Haha:D Although I love Beijing, especially in October (better than average air quality and nice weather), you could definitely find things to do within the Shanghai/Jiangsu/Zhejiang zone, and remember that HK, Macau, Korea, Japan, Taiwan etc can all be nested inside of your visit.

FYI, my last several landlords are all party members; 20-something police officers know not to mess with them over bureaucratic matters.

Several buses do require passport to buy a ticket now. I have no knowledge of what they do with the information, and maybe it is just for easier input of a foreign name. But I would assume that means bus movement is being tracked now.

Yes, the government has for several years been trying out a real-name system for long-distance buses in various parts of the country.

Yep, my passport was required for several bus trips in Yunnan earlier this year.