Moving to Fuzhou - money? (Suzhou)

Hi there!

I am soon to be moving to Fuzhou in Fujian province from the UK to work as dancer in a show. I get paid in US dollars cash after one month of working there. I have a few qu's that I would be really grateful for some help with:

1. What is the best way to start money wise? Should I get some yuan in the UK before going? Or exchange some sterling to Yuan once out there? Or should I just get money out of cash machines with my credit card as I'm not so keen on having lots of cash!

2. As I will be paid in US dollars cash (has anyone heard of this kind of payment before in China!?!?) what is the best way to then exchange this into Chinese Yuan? I've heard some people say open a Chinese bank account, would I be able to put the US dollars cash straight into that account?

3. Also will I need to join some sort of taxing system once out there? If so how do I go about this?

That's all for now. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance.

Fran :)