Maybe there is a chance to convince the authorities to be not so hard on us, as almost all other countries.
I think not! . . . I was personally detained for not having proper documentation when arriving in mainland China by freighter (proper crew visa), and our arrival at the time, was only for tech stop purposes (no one was deplaning at that station). . . . A $2,000 fine was the answer - paid for by the company.
Be warned from personal experience, the mainland Chinese border guard's take their job's very seriously (HKG or TPE no problem, however).