Better to just take a risk and get fined IMO. Having to register at a police station within 24 hours is ridiculous. I only registered once in my entire time in China, in 2015, and I was not always living on a university campus.

Once a policewoman came to my privately rented flat in Nanning and asked me if a woman was living with me. I was a bit pissed off, it's none of her business. I was living alone at the time, but a few months earlier my GF was living with me.

Strangely enough, I always found university campuses in China the best place to bring girls back to your flat. Nobody cared, and I was very open about it.

It's probably better to not have a girlfriend living with you because it queers your pitch if you unexpectedly bump into another bit of skirt you want to be free to bring back.

As for the police- I think they size you up when you initially visit them and if they think you look trouble they will visit you- well one told me that.

What it can amount to for many of us is no less than being under 'House Arrest' Sod that for a game of soldiers. If you put up with that you have no self-respect.