Both J.Stevens & pastrygirl are correct and make some good points. I have been working almost two years in Shanghai, China at this point. Starting out first studying the language and then picking up a job from there (which is not necessarily the route you want to take). I would imagine that Western style/run hotels is one of the better routes to go, typically offering a couple year contracts for Western management/leadership positions (as mentioned by pastrygirl). They will take care of any Visa requirements that you need. For reference I am currently working at a small/mid sized restaurant and bar as a bar manager which also took care of my Visa requirements. There are smaller Companies similar to the one I work for that will also do the same. That being said, they often higher Western talent already in Country (often cheaper and quicker). You are required to have a working Visa, no buts about it. And it seems what J.Stevens mentions about Japan is similar to China, anything other than a tourist Visa is not easy to come by, and a working Visa is a bit tougher still. There is a fair amount of paperwork that needs to be done, health checks, some more forms, and you must fly out of the Country (Hong Kong is okay) to register for a working Visa, which must be renewed every year, regardless of how long you have been here (my bosses have both been in China for over a decade). However after the initial go around, you don't have to leave the Country to renew, you can have someone stand in for you and renew in Shanghai. Also, those local places you mention, at least in China, are not interested in hiring foreigners. Labor is cheap and plentiful for people who have grown up making their local fair all of their life. Without a doubt they don't want a foreigner telling them how to cook their cultural heritage. On another side note, the World Expo is currently going on right now in Shanghai, and there has been an influx of foreign chefs that have been hired to run a number of the Pavilions food programs. There have also been a number of other locally based Western chefs that have been sucked over to run restaurants in and around the site which has put a hole in the talent for everyone not related to Expo. So there may be some people currently looking to fill positions quickly. There are a number of new hotel openings coinciding with Expo as well, to reiterate, that is a good place to start looking. With the growth that this city sees year after year, there are always other options popping up as well.
