I'm finally and completely legal.
I took the chance and took up my employer's convoluted plan. Taught on a Tourist Visa for a month in September, converted that to a Business Visa which took me to the end of the Fall semester, changed that to a Z Visa and then applied for and received a Work Permit for China, (in addition to a UK Work Permit).
I took so many trips to the immigration office in China that I was starting to run into people I knew. And now my passport has 5 pages used up in one semester.
The Tourist part was the only thing that really concerned me. My employer maintained that it was defensible to work under a Business Visa. Pretty sure that would have involved telling a white lie or two, but I have no problems lying to Chinese authorities...or business owners...or pretty much anybody here who's awake. I've endured enough of theirs.
Now if I could just get the damn, cheap-ass Brits to pay my expenses which are, currently, north of $7,000. They seem to have the position that I should be grateful just to have the honor of working for them.
Where is customer service worse? England or China?