What's more, if you are already in China without a Z visa, like me, Shane will reimburse your HK visa run expenses, excluding your accomodation and food costs. Better still, if your current L visa is valid until late September, you can start earning right now, and do your run a little later during the short vacation at the beginning of October.

It seems that only those expats who came to China on L visas will be able to convert to Z's in HK, provided that their passport countries are on HK's list of 'approved countries'. But if your L has superceded a cancelled or an expired Work Residence Permit, you'll have to return to your passport country to get a Z. That kind of L visa will have been issued by a PSB office within China, of course.

Finally, teaching on an L visa is both illegal and risky. You'll probably get away with it for a month or two, but I wouldn't advise anyone to do it.