Hi Brian,
The Hong Kong way of doing it is still running. My Oz mate here has just got a job with a very upmarket private school. They are taking care of all the paperwork as well as flying him and his wife to HK to do the deal all expenses paid. Seems to be a standard thing here. As he would say" no worries mate!" His apartment leaves a bit to be desired though, and remember your taking a hit on your wages for this.
I think that finding work in Handan will not be a problem for you. Its a bit of a balancing act. If you come here on a tourist visa you can extend your stay. Ask Willy he seems to have worked this one out. Then you can do private tutoring, wait for the right job in the right town to turn up,and I have no doubt it will. Once you are married then a rolling 6 month visa takes over. Everything looks different from here they really are so short of teachers especially in the more off the beaten track places that picking up work is not difficult. Here in Baoding after asking around there are only 5 other foreign teachers and that's for a population of 635000. So don't get too hung up on qualifications. A native English teacher at a school is a cash cow for them,
I asked my wife about finding an apartment and she said the same thing that Vince is telling you.
no problem.
Best of luck
Ming Zhi,Paul