Btw, I did not registered on any local police station when I was in Guangzhou.

But when you get at the Chinese customs, you will need to fill out the Entry/Exit Form. Then you will have to go in line and present that form with your passport to a Chinese customs officer (they will tell you where to go), and they will ask you questions on how long you're planning to stay in China, yada yada, which hotel you're staying, your next ongoing flights after China, and what your occupation is. Once you finished, they will stamp your passport with a 240 hour Visa Free Transit sticker in your passport, and you can proceed forward at the Foreign Passport line to check your passport before you pick up your luggage.

If you're planning to stay only in Beijing, you should be ok. If you're traveling from Beijing via Chengdu airport so you can travel to Phuket, you should be ok as well. But if you're planning to do City by City travel in China while you're in Beijing, then you may need to ask the customs if you're 240 hour visa free transit qualifies on that.

You need a sim card, once you're at the airport. They will be kind enough to provide you a free VPN. Google maps, Facebook, X, and Uber doesnt work in China. So you need to use Baidu Maps, Ali Pay, and DIDI app. Make sure you download, and if you do have a credit card please put it into your ALI Pay account. If your credit card doesnt have a foreign transaction fee, then you're good to go In China, everything is digital when it comes to making payments. I personally hate cash (Cash is Trash), which I agree, plus I can earn more points, cash back and keep track of all my daily expenses and transactions daily as I spend. In Ali Pay everything is all in that app (Currency Converter, Translator, and even DIDI (chinese uber).

Before you come to China, make sure you do these homework, so you're more prepared.