I wouldn't recommend either of those courses of action, because there's quite a big requirement you're overlooking: you need to be a Chinese citizen to sit the exam. See http://en.cnci.gov.cn/Law/LawDetails.aspx?ID=6308 . The translation is "National Judicial Examination", but it applies to lawyers as well as judges.

This was later updated to allow Hong Kong and Macao residents to also take the exam (couldn't find an official statement in English with a couple of minutes googling, but there's a newspaper article here: http://www.legalinfo.gov.cn/english/Judicial-Examinations/content/2009-02/02/content_1027722.htm?node=7641 ), but I'm pretty sure Americans still aren't welcome.

There are some foreign lawyers practicing in China, but they're technically just consultants that can't represent clients in court.