I feel that given the sheer numbers of the chinese military, we would have no choice but to go nuclear and probably within the first week.
The "sheer numbers" of their military are irrelevant, unless you were planning on the US invading China, which isn't going to happen.
Which is why China has been furiously REDUCING the troop strength of its army in recent years, to try to devote money saved to more advanced weaponry.
However, this creates the problem of having a lot of POed men with military training that are fresh out of a job.