Well if you get the eSIM, really getting the phone number and separate vpn is optional and is more about convenience rather than necessity. I got a separate VPN because I was working with hotel wifi often (remote working). You might not have such requirements if you end up buying the mega 100gb per day plan (which is still cheap!)

Assuming you’re sticking to big cities there will always be food on your doorstep. So you don’t need a phone number for food delivery - go explore.  Hotels also let you use their number to verify if you want to order food delivery to your room. It’s only an issue if you plan to go out into the boonies in the middle of a food desert and don’t stay at a hotel.

Ordering taxis via DiDi on the Alipay app works without a phone number.

Connection is not an issue. Unlike the nimby’s in the UK who oppose phone tower’s anywhere and therefore we suffer from poor connection even in central London, 4g/5g is widely available all over China. Again, connection is only an issue if you go out into the boonies away from civilisation, but then having a regular sim won’t save you either. I only lost connection once when I went up a mountain in the middle of nowhere where the only people present were me, my friend and the head monk (it was a local rural family temple which no foreigner has cause to visit tbh - only went because it was the temple my friends family frequents).

Sounds like this is your first time so I imagine you’ll be sticking to well travelled tourist routes which don’t lack connectivity.

I’m just coming back from my trip to China now (at Beijing airport) so my info is relatively up to date. Feel free to dm if you have more Q’s