There are plenty of certifications out there, but no actual laws about it. You won't get fined or arrested for translating without the proper certificates.

On the other hand, there are certain certifications and training courses that will greatly increase your employability and the amount of money you can make. For instance, if you get certified as a simultaneous interpreter, you can command some pretty high rates interpreting at conferences, making a good living if you're in the right city. Some gigs (courtroom interpretation, international conferences) will only hire interpreters with certain certifications, and some translation clients need certified translations of contracts and important documents for legal reasons. This can expand your business and raise your price, but it may not be necessary in your particular field.

As for specialization, it really depends on what you want to do. Technical translation can be rather boring, and some highly specialized fields require a bit of work to get into, though they may not actually provide a lot of work down the line.

As a longtime translator, I second Bernie on the mother tongue requirement, and on the fact that it takes a lot of practice. Pick texts from your field and practice translating them. You don't necessarily have to work for free at first (I almost never do, except for some worthy causes here and there), but that's a question of building up a client base, not of learning how to translate.

I'd recommend going to an electronics shop like Guomei or Suning, where each brand has his own dealers on site. They work on commissions and sales targets, and if they're having a slow week, you can usually get a good bargain out of them. I managed to knock 2000 kuai off my 42 inch TCL last year.

It's called a sunbird. It's similar, but it evolved separately. I've seen them a few times in the countryside, though unfortunately they had been captured by peasants who were selling them along the side of the road.
Here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunbird

Bad news: you'll probably have to leave the country to get your Z visa. Not definite, but probably.
Good news: Once you get your Work Permit and Residence Permit, you can live anywhere in the country. The residence permits are good everywhere, but you have to get them in the town where your sponsor company is located. This means that you'll have to return to Wuhan once a year to renew. Expect the applications to take about two weeks, if you have all your stuff together.

The guy makes one normal post and you're all over him anyway. Congratulations - now you guys are the trolls.

From what I understand, the ads on gokunming aren't exactly lucrative, though they seem to be doing better. It's a labor of love, mixed with a bit of hope for what the site (and the city) can become. The guys also do other writing/translation/consulting work and run gochengdoo.com among other things.