Thanks for all your help

China sounds like it's going to be difficult. First of all, I'm a bit surprised at how high the rental rates seem to be. For example, at the moment I'm living in Chiang Mai, city center, with WIFI for $125 per month. From what I can make out, it seems that staying in a small room / guest house in Guangzhou would be more like $400 - $600 per month

The reason I was thinking of leaving Thailand is that, although I make enough money to live ok in Chiang Mai, I'm looking to take my income up to the next level and thought China might be the best place to do some networking

The visa situation might be more challenging than Thailand as well. I'm not looking for a business visa. I was just hoping to add a few hundred extra dollars a month to my income. The thought of going through all the red tape for something as low key as what I was planning isn't very appealing.

Is it possible to stay in China for months at a time as a tourist, like so many people in Thailand/Philippines/Malaysia do?. Maybe leaving the country regularly and getting another visa on re-entry?

I've heard stories of how big the demand for private teaching is. Westerners getting stopped on the street and asked to teach... I figured that there must be lots of opportunities for that kind of thing if I get boots on the ground and present/market myself well. Has anybody got insights into this? Is it fairly easy to find these kind of opportunities? I imagine the demand to learn English far outstrips the supply of Western teachers over there.

I hear so much hype about the economic rise of China, and how much money is being made there that I'd love to see it and be a part of it in some small way. I'm also interested in learning the language.

Skype is also another complication. Does anybody on here have any experience using a Chinese VOIP service for international calls/lessons?

CSSD - I appreciate your comments on internet marketing. I think this is the answer, but I'm struggling to make a real impact online with my small marketing budget. I've done things like post on Craigslist and put my profile on free websites to offer my services. I'm just trying to decide what the best strategy is. I have good feedback from my current students and feel I'm offering a good service. It's just a question of how to connect with people, i only need a couple more students to be where I want to be, so would prefer not to spend the cash building a website.
I get the feeling that finding a couple of new students online is a pretty easy task, but my lack of experience with marketing and websites is making it difficult for me