Story Progression

Does anyone know if the story is "free" as it is in the beta, on the Chinese server?

There is nothing that will stop you from following the story, and by doing the story you gain a lot of XP. You reach level 40 very easily and all lower level content becomes irrelevant. It's no fun exploring the lower level maps because you kill the mobs with a skill, exploration is very boring

If it is like this in CN too, then we cannot expect any change in this regard.

BPSR should take more inspiration from GW2, where low-level, 13-year-old maps are still relevant.