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Well, this is a strat I invented with China, I hope you like it:

Bonuses:
Flamethrowers are classfied as RI, but people think they are artillery (and actually they work as artillery), so they kill units as culverins when people expect that not, another good thing is that no one expects you will make em, everyone expects of you a disciple ff or an old han rush. Flamethowers can easily kill RI and HI as artillery, the problem is that, they can be owned really easily, and just can be used vs this civs:

Spain (be sure that it isnt ffing or massing hussars)
French (just if havent got the card of early skirms).
portuguese (be sure he havent got he card of early dragoons and its not ffing)
Russia
Iroquois (be sure that not ffing).
Japanese.
Indians.
Aztecs.

Disadventages:

You are wondering, why I listed just those civs, its because those civs got units with low range, flamethowers are easily killed mircoing, because they got just 10 range, they cant go vs units as skirmishers of 20 range, longbows of 22 range, and either vs civs that will surely make cavalry, because flamethowrs are easily owned by heavy cavalry.
This strat gets totally ruined, if your opponents knows that you are making flamethowers before 8th minute, because he will start making cavalry and you get countered earilier, or just if hes main strat was of making cavalry.

You will get economy a bit slow, and you will age a bit slow, and its hardly to win late game if you failed at start.

Be sure your teammate isnt a noob, and will surely mass muskeeters or dragoons, because flamethowers are very easily killed with Heavy Cav, and their un-protection of HI is their weakness.

The cards (in the order you should use em):

rainbow trickle
TEAM Provincial Administration (this card isnt very usefull, but it helps a lot since you need the wood, and it helps a lot teammate, though you shouldnt use it when your partner need houses not for their pop, as manors)
700 wood crates
8 chu ko nus
7 steppe riders.
9 quiang pikes
700 food crates
600 food crates

The others are on your own selection.

The strat:

AGE I:

As always collect starting resources, and move all vills to hunt, build a village, collect treasures, get rainbow trickle card, and then provincial administration, age with 14 vills and build porcelain tower wonder, while you aging, collect 600 food with villagers, this will work to mantain vill production when you will move all your vills to wood and coin. you should have 6 vills being made (probably 2 or 1 of em are already made) for a total of 20, when you got the food, move 10 of your vills to wood, and 5 to coin, the rest put em to work on wonder.

AGE II:

Set your porcelain tower make food, collect the food crates of the porcelain tower and with em make 4 more vills, meanwhile with rainbow trickle, porcelain tower, you will have a good food production necessary for making a few and you wont need to gather food in a time.

Now Send 700 wood card, build a castle, then collect the wood crates, and build a consulate (ally with russians, germans aren't very useful because german bonus is of banner armies, and you aren't creating banner armies) and another castle, start making flamethrowers.

Get constant vill and flamethrower production, send as next card 8 chu ko nus, JUST IF you or your teammate are being rushed, otherwise send 7 steppe riders and raid opponent. Attack when you got nearly 15 flamethrowers, this should perfectly kill opponents xbows, musks, pikes, low range skirmishers (as maces and strelets), opponents army should be dead, and their base too.

After this they will start cavalry production, you should be really careful, and be near teammate's HI, send 9 quiang pikes, and now your teammate should protect your flamethowers as good as possible.
Attack opponent, protect flamethrowers, and destroy their TC, now you should have destroyed their TC, now you need to concentrate in booming, and if you lost the battle still you need to concentrate in booming and aging to fortress.
The rest depends on the situation, in more than 50% of the cases you should have destroyed thier base and killed their vills, and they should be hiding and re building.

Though even in fortress there is a different situation, you need hardly to get anti cavalry, as you know, chinese anti cavalry suck, what I suggest you its to get a monastery, and to train anti cav mercenaries, if there are no anti cav mercenaries, then you should send cards of anti cav units, or ally with german consulate.

You are wondering how to put correctly vills in each resource, because I didnt explained it before, well, I will explain it here,
Set your vills in colonial, in the way that after you got 10 vills in wood, and 5 vills in coin, 5 next will go to coin, then 5 next to wood, in this way:

Villagers  Food  Wood  Coin
15            0        10       5
16            0        10       6
17            0        10       7
18            0        10       8
19            0        10       9
20            0        10       10
21            0        11       10
22            0        12       10
23            0        13       10
24            0        14       10
25            0        15       10

Now, when you got 26 vills, change your porcelain tower production to coin, move 5 vills from wood to food, and the 2 next idle vills, move em to coin, in the way that:

Villagers Food Wood  Coin
27            5     10        12
28            6     10        12
29            7     10        12
30            8     10        12
31            9     10        12
32           10    10         12
33           10    10         13
34           10    10         14
35           10    10         15
36           10    10         16
37           10    10         17

This will help you to age up to fortress, of course that with 5 vills and a rainbow trickle you wont be able to age up, you will need the 2 cards of food crates, with this you will have a decent flamethrower production, and a good economy.
 

I accept suggestions! 

Only 2 since i don't play china a lot. since your so dependant on your teammate. what if he is having a bad day? don't be SO dependant on your ally. how do u now he will be british?

& don't make all flamthrowers since u just told the world you strat & they will surely OWN u. tahat is all

You mentioned that China has bad anti-Cav. This is true, but the German allies are quite useful with there 3 Cav-Killers in Colonial. Sure, their bonus isn't as good, but 10% faster Villies isn't that much better, and if your attack fails then you'll want to make Banners.

This means I'd suggest 300 Export card as well.

Laz. 

Lazurath:

You mentioned that China has bad anti-Cav. This is true, but the German allies are quite useful with there 3 Cav-Killers in Colonial. Sure, their bonus isn't as good, but 10% faster Villies isn't that much better, and if your attack fails then you'll want to make Banners.

This means I'd suggest 300 Export card as well.

Laz. 

or go with the  British in the consulate and get 6 muskets

Anhkhoa:

Only 2 since i don't play china a lot. since your so dependant on your teammate. what if he is having a bad day? don't be SO dependant on your ally. how do u now he will be british?

& don't make all flamthrowers since u just told the world you strat & they will surely OWN u. tahat is all

 

I said that be sure that your teammate isnt a noob, and I dont really care if he is having "bad luck", luck doesnt helps that much to win games.

This strat is exactly about being dependant on your ally, and making pure flamethrowers, flamethrowers are owned easily by cav, thats true, but actually they pretty own all infantry.   

I played this strat many times, and I owned more people than I got owned by.

Lazurath:

You mentioned that China has bad anti-Cav. This is true, but the German allies are quite useful with there 3 Cav-Killers in Colonial. Sure, their bonus isn't as good, but 10% faster Villies isn't that much better, and if your attack fails then you'll want to make Banners.

This means I'd suggest 300 Export card as well.

Laz. 

there is a problem with export, you get it very very slow, ok, the card of 300 export can help, but still it will give a few doppels, and you will still need more anti cav later. 

I know that this strat is very team dependant, thats why you just should play it with clammates or very good friends as I do.

lugano:

And at what time will you have those 15 flame throwers?

it all depends on the map, the treasures, if opponents attacked you, etc...
 

blade55555:

i'm assuming this is 2v2.  But Why verse russia?  most GOOD russians will send their 5 cav, then 4 card shipment (or send 13 stre, then cav).  I don't know I could see this strat easily getting ownd .  This might work on the low levels but that's it.

pfft, 9 cossacks isnt big deal...

Also I rarely see a russian player sending 4 cossacks shipment, they just send 5 cossack shipment...