Kevin unless I have missread something you are leaving in a couple of weeks so you do not want to be stressing about your visa arriving , who is doing the hotel bookings ? the agency , the lady you are meeting or you , as most reasonable hotels can be booked out , you can find good deals on Expedia.com along with many other sites , and certainly cheaper usually than via the agency with their cut , along with the fact that not all hotels are licensed for non Chinese people , those that are will take a copy of your passport and register you with the local police have a hunt and grab the details of where you think you will be staying and put these on the form . I hope you have bought an electronic translator Besta or ? as the 2 of you will find this invalueble and after a day or so you will not need a human translator , also while you are there as you will have noticed should you have a problem there are many here that can sort it out and help you , but don't be like 1 guy a few years ago when nothing clicked he sat in his room till he could get a flight home , whereas another guy went out and met the love of his life , do not forget China runs on 220/240 volts so any electronics that you take may need an adaptor although some of the better hotels have 110 v sockets on the walls , regards Sujuan and Robert .