I agree, no way the UAE immigration will allow you to stay full time on a travel visa unless your wife/spouse is employed and can sponsor you. The way to proceed with this as I see it is to take the Guanzhou base. It is more appealing if you don't have any kids for education or you can relocate them back to your home country with parents/inlaws etc. The pay will go a long, long way in Guanzhou compared to Dubai. In Guanzhou you will NOT need a car either as public transportation and taxis are fully adequate. A big benefit on this contract is the 15 days off every 6 weeks so 6 times per year you would have a 15 day vacation with free travel tickets albeit in economy section. You can rent a decent 3 bedroom apartment for around 9,000 rmb or $1500 US. The way to deal with the dreaded Chinese medical is to secure a LOL Insurance plan which will cost you another $500 or so per month for a plan covering $7500 US per month for 5 years. The Chinese are in higher demand currently of narrow body drivers with many contracts 20K plus per month some now at 23K per month.