I just heard from a university teacher that she knows about some students who actually bought plane tickets without passport, because the same reason of yours. In this case you will need a yellow paper instead of your passport. With this paper you can book hotel as well.
Hey!
As a student I went to a police station for an interview about two weeks ago. But I went with other schoolmates and there was a teacher as well. She did the translation for us. I think DanTheMan was right about that, they only want to see you physically. That`s all. There wasn`t any question. They only warned us about the laws and regulations in China. It was totally pointless.