If you have a backpacker soul, these tips are helpful:

I recommend the BEIJING FAR EAST YH.
TIESHUXIEJIE No. 90.
Phone: 63018811-3118 or 3119 They charged 45 Kuai in a 3-bed-room. They offer a complete kitchen, washing machine, drier and western style showers and toilets. But the best thing is the location. Outside there is a market street full of streetkitchens, restaurants, supermarkets...only 5 minutes walk from TianAnMen and the ForbiddenCity!

On our difficult way to find a nice place we passed:
1. BEIJING YH, JianGuoMenNeiDaJie No.9 close to Beijing Railwaystation which was said to be brand new...in fact they were still building it in 2003
2. SAGA YH in some bad alleys 700m behind the Beijing YH, with 60 Kuai in a shabby 4-bed-room too expensive for the run down state.
3. ORIENTAL YH, Dondang-third-lane at Donfang Plaza No.8 - good location close to the TianAnMen and fair prices....but booked out! Ah, keep on walking;-)
4. Another place in the middle of nowhere: DIAO YUAN HOSTEL, somewhere next to the channel on YouAnMenDongBinheLu No.135...which is closer to the Temple of Heaven
BUT they have the best guy for organizing trips to the Great Wall!
It is Mr. John:
TieShuXieJie No. 66, XuanWu District. Phone: 83151553, 13901123938, 138012211089 or 13611326769.
Email hotmail.com|jian_min
His place is called ManGuoXiangHuoGuoDian.
A great trip to Simatai for two persons (60 kuai each) for a driver (Mr. John himself) in a jeep. to Simatai it is a 3h drive each way.

Cheap one:

Captain YH on Fuzhou Lu No. 37 which is right at the Bund situated in a colonial building. www.captainhostel.com, phone (21)-63219331. You can see the Pearl Tower from the window! In 2003 they charged 55 kuai for dormitory, around New Year 04/05 they asked for 60.
Showers and toilets are in western style, a washing machine is waiting for you.

Best one:

PU JIANG or ASTOR HOUSE on Huang Pu Lu No. 15 (the end or beginning of the Bund). WWW.Pujianghotel.com or www.astorhouse.com,
phone: (21)-63246388.
It is the pure rich colonial style! Supposed to be the first and oldest hotel of Shanghai. People like Einstein, Charlie Chaplin, Bertrand Russell and US President Grant stayed here. I stayed in a 45 qm doubleroom with beautiful old wood floor, 3 meter and something high ceiling with old stucco works and so on for 380 Yuan (16 Euros per person). It is the cheaper version of the Peace Hotel - with a great quality!

But if you are 100 per cent backpacker you can also enjoy this atmosphere at the Astor House for 70 Kuai in dormitory.

The picture shows the Astor House at snowfall.

Well, I have a backpacker soul, so when I travel with a friend or on my own I try to find some cheap places, but still the best quality for a certain amount of money.
If you travel with your girlfriend things look different - they make travelling so expensive;-)

Finding luxury places to stay in is nothing special. The challenge is to find cheap Hotels with the best quality.
Here are my results for Chongqing:

In spring 2004 the HUIXIANLOU (on MinzhuLu No. 186 leading to the JiefangBei Monument, phone: (023)-63845101)offered the best dormitory rooms in Chongqing around JiefangBei. Despite a 6-bed-room it was great because the walls were completely of glass offering an amazing view down to the busy shopping streets to the JiefangBei monument. They charged me with 50 Yuan a night.

But around Christmas and New Year in 04/05 they closed down any dormitory offers.
Maybe you are lucky next time, but it seems they got too greedy and that dormitory does not fit into their concept anymore.

I checked several other hotels like the SHIPIN DASHA (72 ShaanxiLu No.72, phone: (023)-638476775) which is closer to the harbour. But it is totally run down and even their so called better double rooms 100 to 180 yuan are not worth thinking about it. There is also a Karaoke Bar in the building which does not make it better.

A Chinese friend helped me to find a great place, the SHUANGHUI LIJING HOTEL. From JiefangBei Monument you walk down the Minzhu Lu for 5-10 minutes to the big Carrefour Supermarket. In front of this market turn left and the next possibility right again. Right behind the Carrefour, approximately the 4th building on the left side, there you find it. My doubleroom was on 15th floor with a nice view and cost 100 Yuan. Rooms are very clean, nice service and western style bathrooms.
They are flexible with prices because on the board there was no room under 300 Yuan. Maybe I was lucky, but you should give it a try! It is the best quality for your money!

The pic shows the SHUANGHUI LIJING HOTEL.

Hk is the most expensive city in China. If you want to keep it cheap for a backpacker it is not that easy.

But as long as you are travelling without girlfriend (they make travelling soooooo expensive;-)
I can tell you of the MIRADOR ARCADE right on Nathan Road No. 58, the main shopping road of TsimShaTsui Kowloon District, HK. There are many Guesthouses inside.
It is possible to stay there for 50 HKD a night in dormitory rooms. Which sometimes means 14 beds - yes, every square centimeter is expensive and has to be used in HK!
The building is totally run down just like the Chungking Mansions, which is famous of the movie Chungking Express. Some scenes show the bunker atmosphere quite well. Inside both buildings you find a mixture of Pakistani, Indian, African shops. There is whistling from every corner: (Fake Rolex? Cheap suit? Marijuana? Girls?!?)
But inside the Chungking Mansions there are also delicious Indian restaurants. They are quite famous, that is why I sometimes had to wait up to 45 minutes to get a table - but it was worth it!

For Guangzhou/Kanton I really have to recommend the Guangzhou YH on Shamian Island (2nd Shamian Sijie). They charge dormitory with 50 kuai but it is a neat place! Rooms have 6 beds but they offer a lot of space - not like in HK where they use every square inch. There is also a nice courtyard between the rooms and the office building.
The best thing of all is Shamian Island itself, of course. Full of beautiful buildings in colonial style. With all the flowers and trees it is like a big park. If you leave the island on the right side you will find a big fishmarket offering everything which lives in the water. From turtles to
Nearly opposite to Shamian Island there is the Qingping Market offering herbal medicine, dried snakeskin, and so on. But after SARS they reduced the offering a little bit, so I missed some things the Guangzhou cuisine is famous for.....
If you take the ferry across the ZhuJiang or Pearl River you find boulevards full of bars and restaurants. In the backstreets they offer real fake DVDs for 5 kuai without bargain - the cheapest price I found across China. It is said Guangzhou is the center of this business in China.