A call to Verizon today revealed that my crappy little tri-mode Audiovox phone (the 8600, which I hate), will work in China. It will also work in some other countries as well. It's not dirt cheap, but it's not hideously expensive either. 49 cents/minute, or 1.18 if there's roaming. And no cost for other people to reach me, I think.
Of course, maybe I'm wrong on some of these details, because it sounds too good to be true. And it doesn't really work in Europe. But otherwise it sounds really cool.