China Postal Services provides what I think they call as ESL service, it is like Priority Mail back home.  I mailed a few documents on a Saturday afternoon, and were delivered in Guangzhou on Monday morning.  I also did use the "Registered" option, 15 Rmb extra, worthwhile to me to insure delivery if important documents.

Receiving mail in China is not as bad as you claim if you follow a few simple rules in order to expedite and insure delivery.  They are:

1.- Fill Customs declaration properly, indicating each item inside the package or box.  If you do not list all items, or include any in the "prohibited" classification, the whole package will be confiscated and not delivered.

2.- Do get someone to translate your address into Chinese  characters and send that to your friends and family.  If they print it and use it by gluing it on front of package, when it arrives to your city it will not seat for weeks in your local Post Office waiting for someone to show up that speaks English to translate your address.  Also, including the cell phone number of someone close to you with the address will help expedite arrival.

3.- Do write, in your address, the word "CHINA" in Mandarin and also in English.  Before I did that the USA Post Office sent some of my packages to Japan, Thailand, Korea, etc.

4.- Instruct those sending you packages or letters not to use postal stamps but "metered tape" to indicate postage was paid.  Postal stamps may result in package lost because someone liked the stamps.  

use EMS/DHL express... hope u r within city limits of guilin & beijing... then no probs...