Hmm, didn't think about that. I'm a trained teacher but there's really not enough time. The agency that sanyiseul mentioned replied to me just now saying they can't process my visa. I guess I'm heading down to Hanoi unless by a miracle I manage to find an employer on such a short notice. I've also read that if I need to extend my z-visa with another employer, I'd have to do that back home or somewhere out of China, like a new z-visa application.

I was told that if you leave your company they need to apply to the PSB change your resident permit to a F visa, and that a F visa can be changed back to a resident permit once you have a new job.

Don't recommend HK if its a tourist (L) visa you want.
They only give them for 6 months, and you can only stay in the country 30 days at a time

www.gokunming.com/[...]

Now I'm confused. This thread ( www.gokunming.com/[...] ) is saying Hanoi is ok to apply for visa into China. But article linked above says

"If you find yourself in Hanoi on a Chinese visa mission, take note that the consular services section of the Chinese embassy in Hanoi does not issue tourist visas to non-residents of Vietnam."

Can anyone confirm any of this?

Does not issue tourist visas

Perhaps they issue work visas, and business visas, which is why most of us go for border runs.