RE: After many trips to China over the years, I will never return.
You must have enjoyed your initial trips to return so many times. What made you change your mind?
The Xi Jinping Edition is markedly more Orwellian. Before the last few years (before Trump, to be precise), China was at least keeping up some pretense that they intended to become a modern, open nation...albeit "with Chinese characteristics." Xi and his cabal seem to want to Make China North Korea Again.
And Xi is widely hated for this within China, but he is too powerful an Emperor to overthrow at this time.