I second Taipei. You could potentially qualify for a gold card and that would give you residency for 3 years at least.

I liked Hangzhou when I lived in China for around 3 years. Traveled there quite often for work. (I had a Z visa so did not have to do visa runs.) I think the major issue for digital nomading in China is the visa question and the VPN hassle. Also everytime one returns to China, they are supposed to register with the local police station. If someone did not do this, they could be fined or deported.

Outside of politics and some other factors, I loved living in China and traveling around it.