Thoughts on the Chinese?

Like many of you I was over the moon for the Chinese expansion. When release day finally hit I was of two minds on the expansion. It's great to see my favorite game receive attention, finally. But at the same time I feel the Chinese civ lacks the cohesiveness of the other civs. The villagers feel slower and much less efficient than other civs, even the egyptians. The certain upgrades like Medium Cavalry (at least in the classical age) seem useless. Other aspects like the monk and the ranged siege unit (the one trained from the fortress that shoots rockets) seem like an amalgamation of already existing units. The one that comes to mind most readily is the Gastrophetes. What does the community feel about this civ? Any experience in online competitive? How successful were you?