Off travelling soon before I start working in China

Thailand is a good place to go: food and lodging are cheap, there are a lot of other travelers to hang out with and the weather is beautiful. I don't know how much tickets will cost from there to China, but your money will go a long way once you are actually in Thailand. 

Thanks for commenting all good advice. I'm over 25 now!bummer! Sorry I meant I was thinking of maybe travelling around Vietnam, Korea, Cambodia, Thailand and end up in China for a couple of days before I go to Zhangjiagang where I've got a job. I should have be more clear sorry. So if you could comment or have any knowledge or experience that could use that would be brilliant.
=)

I went to Guilin when I was in China, and it was awesome. Beautiful scenery and a fair sized city, with some fun bars. There are 2 hostles there, but hotels weren't expensive either. We stayed at the flower hostle (not sure if that's it's exact name) and it cost us 70RMB between us (£7) for a double room, which had 2 very good sized beds in them. After Hong Kong the space was amazing! Hong Kong is also great, although not easy to do on a budget. There's a lot to do and plenty of things to see. I was working there. What we did was take a sleeper bus from Hong Kong to Guilin. I'm sure they operate other places as well, and they're awesome. You get a bed! There are about 30 beds on the bus in 3 rows, and it cost about £25 I think for a 10 hour journey. I actually slept, which I think is a first for me on transport! Also, I probably got ripped off, as I got sooo confused at the bus station in Guanzhou. Anyways, that's my tuppence worth! I haven't been anywhere else, I only had a week at the end of a contract.

Do you know where you are going to be placed yet? I would visit all the places of interest...

I think I missed the point completely and you meant within China didn't you ? haha doh !! =D

Depending on your age, if you have a preference on how you travel, how much money you have and how far-flung you want to go - e.g. you can get a European train ticket which you can use within most countries of Europe as much as you like. There are a few options like choosing x amount of days with a certain time period (think it's 10 days which you use the train out of a 3 week period) or there are ones available where you can use the train everyday. If you're under 25 then it's cheaper for a ticket than an adult pass - a two week every day pass for youth costs £256 and adult is £362.
I haven't been through much of Europe, but at least this way you can choose where you want to go, how long you want to stay there for and get a taster for a lot of places. And with the tickets being relatively cheap for what they are - it just leaves spending money and accommodation.

http://www.interrailnet.com/interrail-passes/interrail-global-pass

This is the website for the trains

Holidays to Turkey are usually pretty cheap, so you could go there for a couple of weeks, there's a fair bit to see and do + with a tour company there will be other people AND you've got someone to do the organising for you !! =D And from experience, the food is reeeeally good there, no matter what style it is the restaurants I went to were all lovely.

Hope some of that's at least a bit helpful ^^