I tried this product on Ubuntu 7.10. Maybe on Gentoo it involve so many steps as described above, but in Ubuntu it's very easy.
1. Plug the device into a USB slot;
2. in "Administration" -> "Network Setup", you can see a modem connection not activated. Click to edit its properties.
3. In properties, fill "#777" as telephone number for China Unicom, "CARD" for username and "CARD" for password. If you are using other ISP please ask them the telephone number, username and password.
4. Click another tab in properties to set this connection to use DNS server provided by ISP and use the connection as default route, these two options are for China Unicom, if you use other ISP please consult them.
5. Close properties dialog, and check the checkbox before modem connection to activate it. Close everything, after a while you will be able to surf the internet.
Note you can also add "Network Monitor" applet to gnome panel to be able to track the status of the connection, so you can spot it if connection is dropped.
Second note: here is a photo of this product in case you are not sure if it's what you have on hand:
http://www.taobao.com/view_image.php?pic=Wx0GGlFDXA1VUwMGWx0SCwkNGVxbVl8cVllcRgcaBwMSAF1QHFtBRkFUW1tHQggBHQIACBw9Q0Q0GBI8XmtRUAEtQhEbBi5cUklV&d=1&title=uqu5%2BiCyqMDWIEJPUkEgNTE4OCBVU0K907%2FaIENETUEgzt7P38nPzfi%2FqA%3D%3D&version=2&c=ZDE1Y2M2ZjhlOGEzMjQ1MzI1MDg4MDczNGMwZWNjN2M%3D