hanxi province really clamped down on this last September and word has it after the holiday
even further stringent checks will be introduced.

It certainly has affected the number of foreigners here. There were very few where I am and
now just a trickle.

Irrespective of whether you believe it or not it is happening here and rigidly being enforced
and it appears any amount of guanxi will not work.

I know a former Yuncheng FT who tells me what you say is absolutely correct. Shanxi has turned over a new leaf re the isuance of work permits to FTs. In the past most Shanxi FTs had few hoops to jump through - how things have changed there these days!

I'm retired. I think I will conclude by digressing at this point to forewarn noobs of two problems they may be unfortunate enough to encounter.

1) The first time they meet their new FT colleagues, make them aware that you won't lend them money. Non-native speakers tend to be the most likely FTs to be potential borrowers. The first loan request could be 1 or 2 hundred Yuan. You might end up being asked for thousands, step by step. So nip it in the bud before it happens! Neither a borrower nor a lender be. Tell them the first time you meet.

2) The cost of living in counties and very small cities can be much higher than in bigger places. This means you should factor this in when you negotiate your starting salary. Do not be taken in by any Chinese employer who says backwaters are cheaper, so a lower salary there is justified. That's a big lie!
For example, my last gig was in a Hunan backwater. I worked out that prices for meat, noodles, bread, fruit and veggies were 30% higher on average than in the provincial capital! The cheapest rolled mutton there cost 48 Yuan/jin compared to 28 Yuan/jin in Huhhot, Inner Mongolia.
In the Yuncheng area, the cost of living in a county or a small town is about 10% more expensive than Yuncheng City itself.
In Sichuan, a backwater is likely to be about 20% more expensive to live in than either Chengdu or Chongqing.