Internet cafes do a booming business in Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing, Hong Kong, Xian and most other tourist spots. Even smaller and more remote cities usually have some kind of internet cafe for those who need to get their regular email fix. Prices vary of course, from RMB10 per hour to RMB50 per hour in parts of Hong Kong and Shanghai. There are also a few internet bars popping up around Shanghai and Beijing, where internet access is provided free for those buying a drink or something to eat.

The big questions about internet in China is reliability, speed and most importantly, censorship. Do you get all the mail you are meant to? Can you search all the sites you want to? Does your mail get read before it goes out...

All good questions, as the world's largest user of the internet one does wonder. Wikipedia has some interesting comments on censorship in China.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_in_the_People's_Republic_of_China

They also comment on the 30,000 person strong Internet Police Task Force... Wikipedia wasn't even accessible until the International Olympic Committee requested this become available... this was in March 2008.

Those of you who like BBC or the New York Times... also not likely. CNN is often blacked out too.

Internet cafes can be found nearby most of the colleges, however, you will not want to use them to access secure email or banking information, etc. because of security issues. Using an internet café usually only costs around 3 RMB per hour.