Ten year ago I studied and traveled in China with a US passport for two years. I entered with a tourist visa and I had to applied for a student visa to stay. I was able to get a local cell phone number, a bank account at China Bank with a debt/bank card. I was told only certain hotels can cater to foreigners, but we were able to stayed at "7 Days" hotels in various cities without encountering any problems. I did have to show my passport when purchasing high-speed rail tickets; since it was my only form of government issued ID.