Family Visit Visa to China

Hello

I live in UK , holding pakistani passport , and want to travel to china for visit, and meet my friends. I went to the visa office in london and they told me Pakistani passport holders can't apply for visit visa to china , they can only apply for business visa. Is this true ? Is there any other way to get a visit visa ?

My family lives and works in Dubai, they hold pakistani passport as well and want to travel to china with me.

How can we get a visit visa to China ?
Should we all apply from Islamabad or Dubai ?

What's the easiest way to get a visit visa to China , we are ready to go to Islamabad and apply from there. Any help will be appreciated, Thanks.

Regards
Ibrar