Have I lengthened the time non-eu wife gets visa?

I'm a UK national and managed to find a house and a job (as in start Monday) and now starting to think about visa for my wife to come. But something is troubling me. I left my wife in China while I set everything up first before I applied for her to come and i'm wondering if that was the best course of action. I've noticed that many in my situation applied for a short stay visa in the spouse's country and then travelled together to Ireland. Shouldn't I have done the same?

Essentially, what I want to know is have i inadvertently lengthened the time we are separated by not coming together? Can we still apply for a short stay to get her here quick or do I now have to work for serveral months and then apply for residency for her (which is obviously going to take some length of time).