I have limited teaching experience, a BA in History, travel experience...
What exactly is "limited teaching experience"? Did you ever get a TEFL/TESOL/CELTA/DELTA certificate? Your travel experience doesn't count for anything.
If you have two years teaching experience and a TEFL(etc.) certificate, unis should be 'falling all over themselves' to make you offers. As has been discussed, if you don't have at least one of these qualifications (or both, depending on the province) you won't qualify for a Z visa.
In October, uni FAOs will start their quest to fill the openings anticipated for spring semester 2013. You may want to expand your search to include provinces other than Guangdong. Even in the communist 'Peoples' Paradise', market forces are at work and the law of supply & demand dictates, in general, higher wages and better benefits in areas that have difficulty attracting applicants... and vice versa. Just make sure you don't end up in some polluted industrial 'Hell hole'.
After starting my job search and hitting several roadblocks, I 'settled' for a third tier, public (provincially funded) uni in a third - fourth? I don't know how these things are calculated - tier 'city'... and couldn't be happier.
The FAO treats me like gold. They pay above average wages (for a uni) and the cost of living is a fraction of that in Beijing or Shanghai. I have practically no expenses. I get allowances every semester for water and electricity... but there are no meters, so no bills. I get a 'transportation allowance' (as well as the more common 'traveling allowance') but the uni provides free buses between campuses and into the 'big city'. The contract is for a full 12 months i.e. fully paid holidays (I just had 2.5 months off for summer vacation). My weekly schedule this semester is: Mon., Tue. & Wed. mornings 8:00-11:30, followed by a four-and-a-half day 'weekend' (my Fri. morning classes were canceled due to lack of enrollment).
My apartment is nice... and my 'commute' is literally a two-minute walk to the teaching building (if the class is on the 5th floor,it takes longer to climb the stairs than it does to get to the building). Some of this is just luck, but most is due to careful contract negotiation.
So, what's the catch? This -
The campus where I live/teach is in the middle of nowhere... in a place I affectionately refer to as "Dirt City" (it's not a city, it's not even a town).
The campus is immaculate, but as soon as you step out the gate into the 'village' there is dirt (and garbage... covered in dirt)
everywhere... on
everything. The whole area is giant construction zone. There are giant piles of dirt. There are giant holes in the dirt. There are giant piles of dirty gravel in the streets. There are giant piles of dirty sand in the streets. There are giant piles of dirty bricks in the streets. There is dirt in the air.
I get 'free' dirt with everything I buy.
The 'saving graces' are: the 'big city' is only a 45 min. (free) bus ride away should I require something 'Western' (like cheese); plus, the international airport is only 30 min. away... and I have the time and money to travel.
If you think you can handle living somewhere like 'Dirt City' (I know it would not be for everyone), don't get too focused on Guangdong.
Harvest all the uni FAO contact emails you can, then 'carpet bomb' them with a cover letter applying for a job with attached scans of: your degree, TEFL/TESOL certificate, resume, info. pages of your passport and good portrait photo.
