Well, by far the most important dynamic you have to include with regards to China during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms ('5-10') is the process of adoption. In Northern China at least, where military rule & military values were more entrenched, there arose a notion that family ties were cemented through 'sharing hardship' rather than through mere blood links (and of course it was a useful way to bind important commanders to a ruling house). Dynastic armies therefore usually centered around an elite corps led by said adopted sons ('Yi'er Jun'), and it wasn't uncommon to see royal houses pass from one family to another - the Later Zhou is the best example, with founder Guo Wei being succeeded by his adopted son, Chai Rong. Similarly with Li Siyuan succeeding Li Cunxu in Later Tang.
It would also be a mistake to conflate the role of the bureaucracy in the 5-10 with the role the bureaucracy played in the Song Dynasty. Unlike in the Song Dynasty, bureaucrats during the period were supposed to be, first and foremost, subservient to the ruling Emperor. Whoever possessed the Mandate of Heaven were their masters - and, critically, they themselves were not in a position to decide who was to have said Mandate. This is why Feng Dao, a relatively famous official during the period, was praised by contemporary histories for doing good service to four dynasties, while being castigated by Song histories for the same thing. Also, during the period examinations, which had been hijacked by the aristocracy during the Late Tang, became redundant as a means of getting official posts, which were usually issued by decree. Talented men unable to pass examinations/gain posts would simply move to another warlord who would value their talents - which, ironically, laid the groundwork for the 'talent over blood' mentality that was to form the basis for the Song examination system.
Geographically, research on epitaphs shows that starting from the Late Tang, military men had already dominated Northern China, so by 1000 CE this would mean that they have had over 2 centuries of dominance. Military domination of Southern China abruptly started at the start of the 5-10, which is about a century of dominance by 1000 CE. The Lower Yangtze, the Grand Canal, Luoyang and Chang'an were most 'civilianized', with numerous epitaphs for non-military men and even non-officials (rich merchants and suchlike). However, as time went on officeholders became more wealthy than non-officeholders, so in your scenario we would probably see an environment where the trading families at the lower Yangtze (e.g. Yangzhou) are in terminal decline, their wealth sucked away by the monopolization/distribution of economic resources by military warlords.
Migration was a great issue during the 5-10. 40% of all officials in the Wu Kingdom (Yangzhou) had come from North China; 36% of Later Tang officials in Hebei came from Huaibei/Henan. Direction of migration was primarily away from Henan-Huaibei (Luoyang/Kaifeng/Xuzhou) and into either Jiangnan (Yangzhou), Hebei (the military areas of Fanyang/Youzhou etc.) or Sichuan (Chengdu). There was also significant emigration of Chinese elites from Hebei into Khitan Liao as well. Of course, there were also the Shatuo Turks/Khitans coming down into China, not just as invaders but also as mercenaries. Hell, Lun Boyan, a Tibetan, was an important commander in the Hebei region during the time. Migration during this period was very chaotic, with 'deserters' usually having their lands confiscated and granted to loyal officials. Integration into their new society was generally pretty swift, however. The late 5-10 saw the rise of indigenous officialdom in the Southern Tang, though Northern China continued to be ruled primarily by 'foreigners'.
Related to this is the feature of the 'migrant army' in 5-10 (I think the closest analogue one can make here is Liu Bei's wandering force during the Three Kingdoms period). 'Migrant Armies' were arguably the mechanisms through which 5-10 migration occurred. Armies defecting or fleeing would generally bring along their retinue (both civil officials as well as military men), and various warlords would make great attempts to try and recruit them into their camp. For the most part, most of these armies originated from the Hebei/Hedong region, and this region would be disproportionately represented in almost all 5-10 regimes up until the Song, who still had 46% of civil officials and 72% of military officials from these two regions.
As for centralization, it is true that as time went on warlords became increasingly effective at coalescing power in the capital, bolstered by the yi'er jun and also encouraging military men, local elites and civil officials to stay in the provincial capital. However, elite migration had also diluted central power away from the capitals and into more provincial regimes/towns, not to mention the continuing existence of powerful warlords in the North China Plain, which only the relatively unique personage of Song Taizu could effectively and peacefully disarm. The bureaucracy was also only just beginning to develop the notion of itself as an organization independent of the Emperor, which meant that they didn't provide much of a counter-balance. As such, the grounds for continued feudalism were there.
As for important towns... I have a book about Chinese administrative divisions at home, so I might be able to make a map based on that once I finish work.
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