I have a crazy question, and I'll try to to keep the details simple.

I have a contact in China. If I can stay with them and have a good internet connection, could I apply for a L visa, move over to China, and keep my job in the states? My current job I can work from home. As long as I have a decent internet connection (6 Mbp/s), I can do my job. It would be much better pay than an English teacher, I could experience China, and keep employment in the states. I'm not sure if that would go against the visa rules, since I'm not working for a company in China, but I am working and earning an income in the states.

Obviously, I would have to talk with my work if they would let me do this. There are several people who work out of state, and a couple who work in Canada, but not China. Before I ask my work about this, I was wondering if something like this would be possible? Or am I just crazy (I know I am a little).

I don't see any reason why you can't telecommute for 30 days on a tourist visa.

You have to mention in your visa application of you want a tourist visa for longer than 30 days- I would mention sightseeing and staying with friends, as the telecommuting story is a little difficult to explain and may be refused.

Why would the visa office know or care whether you are surfing the web all day or working in the US?

Suggest you go ahead and give it a triall run with a three month or six month tourist visa. The Chinese gov will not worry about you if you get paid in the US and the work is delivered in the US. A non-issue for them. Getting a fast Internet connection can be hard though, and so get your contact to research that for you as
Local conditions vary.

I have done that many times during the past few years, no problems really. My only problem have in fact been the Internet line. Traffic out of China is limited and often very slow. Even if you do have a good line (I do have fiber) you will still have a delay. The usual stuff like mails etc is not any problem but if you like me need to work on line in e.g. mainframe systems etc it is very slow. Still, it works for most normal work related things. Note, it is not legally OK but we are many who do it. There are also rules about how many days per year you can stay (183) before you need to start paying taxes in the country. That is if you entry on an business visa.

I wouldn't mentioned the telecommuting part of the story, as it's really none of their business. You would be going there to do sightseeing and see friends as well. As long as you abide by the 30 day stay limitation (or longer if you get it extended as alanmd mentioned) then it's just a vacation to them. Lot's of people travel to China for tourism reasons and still have to do some work from there. You're lucky, because not a lot of employment situations would allow for it!

I'm not 100% sure if my work will allow it yet, but since it's possible, it probably won't hurt to ask them. I'm about to get a promotion to telecommute 100% from home, so I guess I just need to check if it's okay with my work if I do this outside the country...and if I can confirm 100% that my internet will be somewhat decent in China (it sounds like it, but the idea only started today in a conversation about my promotion).

Thanks for the responses. I was thinking it would be really difficult, but not it doesn't sound too bad. I'm aiming for a six month visa, if possible. If I can do this, I'll be letting my Japanese go on the back burner and start studying Mandarin. :)

If you have a contact in China that is willing to vouch for you in writing getting a longer visa shouldn't be a large problem; otherwise, you'll need to show hotel bookings for the entire duration of your planned stay (this has always been a rule, but varies year by year in its enforcement - most recently enforced rather strictly in Europe at least).

It might be worth checking out the requirements for a six month business visa (F-visa) as well. I know a number of people who are here on business visas and work from their homes. Don't know alot about how that works though

Xiaobill, I also know of quite some people, who have done this with a F-Visa, however, they have all done this for their own business, not for a corporation, no one of them ever had a problem.
Most important, don't talk about it, because what you plan to do is illegal:
- it can be regarded as an illegal business operation, as you have no business license, are operating from a residential place, not a commercial premises and also do not have a work permit,
- it can also be regarded as a permanent establishment of your company with tax impact, not only would you - legally speaking - have to pay tax for your income (in China as well as in US), but also social insurance in China and in addition your company might become taxable, as they have this establishment in China, at least to pay business tax (withholding tax).
But this is more of a theoretical case, as long as nobody knows and you have no conflict with anybody or with the authorities.
It might be good to run this via a VPN, so that the content cannot be traced.