I had thought I wanted a Chin before I found out about yorkies. We had even went to a pet store (I would never buy one from there) to see if they were the type of dog for our family. I know the one they brought out was very poorly breed. He was cock-eyed and he kept running into the wall. I felt so sorry for it. He looked like an alien and my son was scared of it because of it's eyes popping out and it's tongue hanging out. It really turned me off of them. I couldn't find a local breeder and there is no way I would want to end up with a poor puppy like that shipped to me from god knows where. Definately get a puppy that you can see locally!
I think a good breed for you is the s**tzu. I think they look very similar, but a little bit bigger and they don't shed. My neighbor has one and she is BEAUTIFUL! And they don't shed!
Their girl looks like of like this.
http://image03.webshots.com/3/4/64/1...uVMRsQv_fs.jpg