You can come here, just for look and impression, but you can not work on a tourist visa. 

Yes, obviously and it's perhaps a good idea to do things that way. At least you're not walking into a job blind. Face to face is also the best way to negotiate the best terms and conditions.

It's better if you find a job, get a contract and visa before coming to China, you'll get more screwed if you come over, but you'll probably get screwed either way.

i did after but when i came here i wasnt looking for a job me and my wife were only here 8 months but i got bored after 2 months found a school then went to hong kong to get a working visa.  my wife is from china and i didnt need to work or look for a place to live

Screw it, I double posted again. Sorry, guys.

It's a bad idea. A tourist visa is for looking at the sites, and nothing more. It is technically illegal (although I don't even see how they would enforce it) to even look for a job when you are in China on a tourist visa. And it puts you in a crummy, vulnerable position. China is in it's rights to change its policy to close off the HK visa loophole at any time it choses--what would you do then? Pay for an expensive trip back home, to where you started. Or, for example, plenty people get hired on a tourist visa, and their school always promises to give them a Z, but always seems to postpone it. Then, one day, the school decides to fire them, and keep the month's paycheck that they owe--and there is nothing the teacher, who should not have been working on an L visa--can do about it. Not all countries bend over backwards to coddle their illegal immigrants, and Chinese ESL employers are patently dishonest and untrustworthy.

Just look at the classifieds on this site, and maybe ESL teacher's board (DO NOT go to ESL cafe--Dave or whoever runs it is a notorious whore for the scummiest organizations in the ESL world), take every offer with a grain of salt, and research it.

EDIT: No, I have always gotten my work visa sorted out before I went to China, but I knew a couple FTs who didn't, and they all regretted it. Believe me, you do not want to deal with the stress involved in the technicalities of changing your visa. Just find a job in your home country--believe me when I say, it will save you a lot of grief and money.

if you know you are looking for a job why be deceitful? do things legally, and you'll have nothing to worry except longer wait times because you are actually working here legally. 

Depends on your qualification and experience... and your own integrity.

If you've got the quals and experience, you ought to be able to score a job (and work visa) easily from your home country.

However, should you decide to job hunt further after you get here, that's where your integrity comes in (ie, looking for something better, while still on a contract).

If you don't have the quals and experience, almost anything goes (which can include you out of the country, and seriously at their mercy!!!)

It depends on the school connections, its all about connections. If not Hong Kong can help you if you have all your documents and go to Forever Bright visa services to finish the Z visa for you.

If none of the above, must get a Z visa back home. No easy short cuts out here like before, now its about luck.

Shit always happens! So, best to get a job from your home country. In this way, you will not kick your twice.....

I did it, but that was over three years ago now. After finding an employer in a city that a friend of mine worked in, I got all the necessary documents from the school and went to HK for visa processing. However, new visa regulations come in every year ( whether they are enforced or not ) so it may not be so easy now.

You could try most places don't really care what you are holding. Like I said once before a kid 19 or so years old landed a job that pays something close to US 2000 dollars 12,000 rmb per month. He never stepped a foot in a college classroom in his life. So that just goes to show you what the possibilities are. I'll give one advice learn chinese as best as you can. They seem to like that. 

Kaiwen is right. Nothing's worse than getting stuck in a city/town/school you hate, especially when it's been aparrent from the get-go that it isn't a good fit for you. You'll be locked into a one-year contract which carries penalties that you'll suffer from.

If you have the finances, then by all means, come here and look around. Visit these schools in person and try to see what works and what doesn't. Do not work without the proper visa, 'cause if you're caught you're likely to get banned for 1-10 years (probably 5).

HOWEVER

You will most likely not get your work visa in China, nor will you be able to switch it out in Hong Kong without paying a pretty penny for the passport stamps + 2 weeks in a hotel.

I tried this for almost a year, looking to see if I could find a loophole of sorts, and everyone who offered me a job was upset that I refused to return home for a Z visa. I couldn't leave my wife by herself in China, as she had nobody else to help or protect her, so I just kept looking for that "one" job.

I ended up just stayed in China and working almost illegally. The school gave me all the papers for a Z visa, but I declined to accept them on account of the fact that I had to return home to switch it. Again, my wife had nobody to take care of her at the time.

Despite the fact that the school was well-connected with great guanxi, they couldn't get my visa switched in Hong Kong, but the PSB allowed me to work there with my X visa, and with permission from my Chinese college.

That is not recommended. I might sound like a hypocrite, but my circumstances were different. I would normally never accept "illegal"employment. Side note: working on an X is now legal with the appropriate permissions; also, with appropriate permission granted by "competent members of the communist party," you can work on any visa, but I still wouldn't recommend it.

 one company, the cooperate with school and they can provide Student Visa. 

www.yccshanghai.com