I agree with KP. Chinese (albeit shy little creatures normally) do appreciate space if the cage is accessorized well. Deep substrate is a must also as they love digging and constructing molehills!
Cage size should be based around a chinese hamsters willingness to be active and not based on the fact that they are timid or shy. This is just part of their make-up, but they still need enough space to be able to stimulate their natural behaviour. I do appreciate that the smaller cages are needed in the early stages of a chinese settling in and I used a Savic Rody with prinny for a good month of her arriving here, but you soon discover their true characters and it`s not long before you realise that they do appreciate more leg room.
This is why the Gabber Rex, Zoozone 1 and similar are ideal, because they are not large cages. They might look large, but believe me, they are not once filled with logs, eggboxes, cork tunnels, loo roll tubes and a wheel!