They haven't put cameras in my bathroom yet, so that's one way. Seriously, China is a fairly free society outside of public and media institutions, even more free in the west since police coverage is overall much less (so lots of law breaking in the open; e.g. prostitution, jay walking, driving like a dork).

I would be pretty hesitant to characterize any government with a legal system that works essentially by fiat, a sophisticated censorship regime, and the possibility of punishment for association or speech as "not authoritarian," even if China is somewhat more open than other countries which we use the term to describe.

It isn't really rule of law, for sure. More like, if they don't like you, they can find something to put you in jail with. Yes, China is an authoritarian state in that way, but if they don't dislike you, they aren't going to make any special effort to control/monitor you (unlike the DPRK).

China is an authoritarian state, but it really is all about degrees...its no where near DPRK levels, just like the USA is nowhere near China's level (well, the USA is authoritarian in completely different ways, so they aren't very comparable).