I have met a foreigner who has lived in China for 30 years, and he is married to a Chinese Lady.  He speaks, reads and writes Mandarin fluently, an engineer by trade, and has no difficulties getting hired for non bteaching work at factories and sugar mills, and at a good salary.

Me, I do not speak, read or write Mandarin, have the same background, and I do not think I will be offered a job as a street sweeper if I needed to work.

Another impediment that may be found is the mandatory health insurance.  I do not remember if it is at 60 or at 62 or 65 that local insurance companies will not carry you.  But I do know a couple of fellows that have their own health insurance cover while in China, and by showing that got the jobs even if could not get local coverage.

A couple of other reasosns come to mind.  While locals could be hired at minimum salaries, why touch a foreigner that will demand higher wages.  While Chinese at work behave as in a military organization and quite submissive, foreigners tend to be more independent.

As a bit of sarcastic parting comment, there are three other jobs in China at which foreigners are excellent, and they are as visa providers, as lovers and as sugar daddies.

Haven't you heard: all chinese all speak English so good, all foreigner all chinese no can so stupid. foreigner no qualified, no can compete five thousand year china. foreigner must teach oral english, china person grammar so good-a foreigner so stupid, only teach native language pick a topic have a chat.

First, only the most desprate of employers will respond to "looking for work" ads.  As an employer, I know this is the last place I would look for employees.

The reason is this: I want an employee that WANTS to work for me and shows that desire by seeking me out rather than me having to seek them out.

As far as jobs for foreigners goes, the biggest question is: What do you bring to the table that a Chinese person can't for 1/10th the salary?  There are literally 100's of thousands of English major students graduating around China every year.  Granted, only about 1/10th of them actually has the skill to be a writer in English, but still that is a lot of locals in the job market with the ability to do the job.

Still, if you are willing to do the leg work, there are jobs out there.  Try contacting the numerous English expat magazines that are in every first & second teir city. 

As a side thing to think about ask yourself this question: If you don't speak or read/write Chinese, how will you know what you need to write?  (I don't know if you know Chinese or not, but this question could help others.)

Basically, if I hired you as a writer, I would probably want you to translate Chinese documents for the western market.  Could you do that?  Or, would I have to hire a translator, who already knows English, to translate the documents for you so that you could clean up whatever grammatacal mistakes the translator made?

Or, if I hired you to research topics for stories, or even perform interviews, would you be able to do that without the assistance of a translator? 

Because, from an employers point of view, if I have to hire an English speaking translator to gain access to your English skills, then your skills aren't nearly as valuable.

I know this may sound harsh, but I was in the same boat when I came to China over 5 years ago.  Obviously, by my writing, you can tell that wasn't my strength, but computer programming was.  That is a skill that the Chinese can do better and cheaper than any foreigner looking to escape the bleak western job market.

I had to re-invent myself.  I had to look not at what I was doing, but what I could do using the resources at hand.  So I started my own company here.  And even I have to admit that I could run my company better if I understood Chinese better than I do.

Anyway, just food for thought as they say.  Sorry if it sounded too harsh.

I've been approached for modeling .... apparently some companies want foreign models . Wasn't really interested but you could give that a shot ....

I can imagine how hard for a foreigner to find a good job here. Most of my foreigner friends have a good job, but none of them found the job in china directly. They were relocated to china, so good position good pay.
You should focus on the small global companies from your original country. These global companies might want some expats like you. It's the same for a chinese to find a good job in your country. The best way is internal transfer.
Good luck.

With no due respect, most of the expats are not really qualified to the high salary jobs except teaching a language. They are indulge in their so-called teaching success.Sometimes they also think that they can change chinajust because they can preach in English. It's comfortable and stable to be a teacher ,and no Chinese will  pick their faults. But we can't deny the fact that some of the expats who have great vision and want to fight for their life. With passion, they finally settle down and make a real achievement.  Well, I just want to say, people (here expats)can have numerous choices, but they need to pack up more knowlege and have faith in themselves. Are you ready?

Do you have journalism experience back home? Or any training? 

Alot of people who have non-English teaching jobs here, and I don't mean working for sideways or something, are working in a specific career and brought in on those qualifications. I don't teach English. I had to once for two months when a job didn't work out, but I got a gig in my field after eight weeks of networking, phonecalls and pavement pounding. 

I should ad, if you don't have training or experience in writing it won't be easy to get a job in that field. Many Chinese media outlets recruit their employees from abroad and even pay to fly them here. 

If you speak Chinese fluently that shouldn't be a problem at all, but if not then look for internships, some paid, some are not. Eventually, they'll absorb you if you really fit in. Otherwise, look for some call centres who service to American/European clients.

If you're really aiming to work as a writer here, then this has to be a tough luck since Chinese proficiency is a must for most companies.  For most companies here, a writer is just the same as being a translator.

Good luck!

Its the market of the English Language. Do you know what the students have to pay for those classes they take? It's expensive! They pay the foreigners a small percentage of what they actually get from the students. 

Like somebody once quoted to me "The most important thing is to do the demo" That way we can get the money and it is up to you how you "teach". 

It's because the market here in China demands teachers and the pay for the owner will tremendously exceed what the teacher will receive. It really doesn't matter if you have degrees or certificates they want the students to like the teacher. So if you can act like a clown and they love it that's what you probably have to stick with. 

If you posted an ad and got responses from kindergartens it's because the kindergartens are the cash cows of China. The students parents pay ridiculously amounts of money for their kids to learn a couple of English words! 

I have been to training centers and I've seen it play out! So your point about kindergartens in particular responding to you as fast as they did is because more than likely that's the cash cow of China. 

Hey! you don't need to rush or bother yourself too hard. I believe you're white and this is China. You can always get what you want.Just be patient.I'm sorry if you think I sound racist.You will see for yourself soon!