Visa renewal

My residence permit expired last week, August 31st. After I registered as a student at Xiamen University last year in September, I obtained the residence permit from the Public Security Bureau. It's convenient to have a residence permit, since it allows you to leave and re-enter China without limitations. I have used the opportunity only once (to go to Thailand in January), but the fact that you are free to go and come back as you please gives peace of mind.
This semester I won't enroll again though. The main reason is to save money. Xiamen University's tuition fee is quite high (16.000 RMB a year), and by far my biggest expense (second biggest is rent, but that was only 9.600 RMB for the past 12 months). Since I now live with Ling Ling, we are expecting to move to a bigger place, and in general spend more, while she still did not find a suitable job here in Xiamen. Also, my new career as a sailing instructor is slowly taking off, and with a private teacher at my side I won't need daily classes at school anymore :)
However, without enrollment at the university, I can't apply for a residence permit, so I need to stay on a regular tourist visa. For this month, I was able to convert my almost expired residence permit to a one-month tourist visa at the PSB, without much hassle. I did have to go to the downtown office twice though, since the officer on duty requested a proof of sufficient funds, which in China means at least 100 US dollar per day, so $3.000 for a visa valid for a month. I will never spend this much in a month, maybe not even in six months, but I did have more than enough on my Dutch bank account to meet the requirement. The problem was I had to return home to download a bank statement, using my security calculator for logging in, copy it onto a USB stick, and print it out at a copy shop. Nevertheless, it didn't take more than one morning to finish the whole process.
This morning I picked up my passport with the new visa, valid until September 28. Before that date, I have to leave the country to obtain a new visa abroad with a longer validity. A Chinese visa valid for half a year, with multiple entries, is easily obtained in Hong Kong, so that's where I will be going at the end of this month.