If one must hear the word of God to be saved...?

Does that mean that people who lived in, say, China in the second century went to hell? I mean, it's not really their fault; there was no such thing as mass communication, and it's not like the guy showed up locally. If all people are God's creations and he loves us all and wants us to be saved, why didn't he send messengers to every corner of the world, instead of a forgotten corner of rural Galilee preaching to a miniscule portion of the population?