As a foreigner in China, your stay must be registered with the police, under two rules. Which one applies, and who does the filing, turns on whether the place is a hotel.
In a hotel, the hotel files it
Article 39 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law says that where foreigners stay in hotels in China, the hotels shall register their accommodation under the regulations on public security administration of the hotel industry, and submit that registration information to the public security organs where the hotel is located.
You have nothing to file. Handing over your passport at check-in is how the hotel meets its own legal duty, which is why it wants the passport itself and not a photocopy or a photo of one.
The fine falls on the hotel
A hotel that fails to file is penalised under the Law on Penalties for Administration of Public Security. If it does not submit a foreign guest’s accommodation information to the public security organs, it faces a warning, and for severe violations a fine of not less than 1,000 and not more than 5,000 yuan, depending on severity.
The National Immigration Administration’s page does not say whether a hotel may turn away a foreign guest, and we will not guess an answer from the penalty. It does show that the legal exposure sits with the property.
Anywhere else, you have 24 hours
If you stay in lodgings other than hotels, the same Article 39 requires you, or whoever puts you up, to register with the local public security organs within 24 hours after check-in.
Under Article 76, a foreigner who fails to register a non-hotel stay shall be given a warning, and a fine of not more than 2,000 yuan may also be imposed.
A short-let apartment is not a hotel, and that is where this rule most often catches travellers out. Our guide to China accommodation registration covers that side, including where you can file online. A property that files the registration itself never puts the duty on you, so check the listing before a short-let wins on price.
Where to file a non-hotel stay
Register at the police stations of the local public security organs where you are staying. Where the area has police offices or foreigner service stations, they take it too.
Two kinds of host may file for you: universities admitting foreign students and organisations providing accommodation to foreigners. In university or company housing, ask whether they are filing it. The regulation provides for exactly that.
Before you book
Ask whether a given property takes foreign guests and registers them. For an independent property, settle that before you arrive.
For a chain where you hold or want status, a direct booking is usually better, as elsewhere on this site, because a third-party booking forfeits points and night credit.
The English text is only a guide
At the foot of the English page, the administration adds: “The English version is only for reference. To learn more, please refer to the authoritative Chinese version.”
That is unusual for a government to say about its own translation. Treat the figures above as the English rendering of the rule. Where a number decides something for you, the Chinese text governs.
Chinese properties, where the question is which one will file the registration (affiliate link)