This forum may prove useful:
http://www.homeshopmachinist.net/
Personally, I would look for an old Atlas or Southbend before I got a China lathe. Get as much tooling as you can with the machine. Expensive to buy one at a time.
I have used a lot of domestic and import machinery. If you do get an import, plan to work on it right out of the box. Sharp corners and crappy handles can be fixed. I have found the basic iron to be adequate.
I have hand scraped several machines and Mid 20th century iron is the best. You can really feel the difference as you scrape. That said, you can still learn a lot from a cheap import tool.