Sorry that it did not work out for you this time , do not know how far out of Brisbane you are , but go a hunting around for some Mandarin lessons as there are probably 1000 plus young ladies of your age group going to uni's up there down here we have about 20= working for us part time and 9 out of 10 are very , very lovely young ladies , and as a swap you can teach them English .
If you are not on QQ already register there , noting where you are and that you are looking to learn Chinese and in turn teach english , and vett any person looking at you , you can then get to know a person on your turf and maybe if you click go to China with them at a time to suit , it has worked down here for a few couples although we gave a helping push ha ha , regards Sujuan and Robert .