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@topcat
I've been growing bonsais for years have a nice collection and been through some moments where I've needed to revive others bonsai trees.
So for a chinese elm you are actually probably better off keeping it outside they really need the change in seasons to store up the sap. So in the winter they should loose all of their leaves which tells them its time to start storing up sap for the spring if they are left inside during the winter they can often die due to not knowing this cycle. I'd recommend a larger grain of soil mixed 50:50 with bark you can get treated bark that won't have the problem of using home made stuff eg fungus and disease. There are some nice websites out there I'd recommend kaisen (sp?) I won't link to it but google will let you find it :) They tend to be fairly good and will give you advice on soil mixtures and best repotting times.
Quick way of telling if the soil is too moist or needs watering is by using a wooden chop stick...put it into the soil pull it out again, if there is no soil clinging to the stick then its probably a bit dry. Also humidity is majorly important get a drip tray with a gravel on it and leave it full of water pop the tree on that and it usually keeps the surrounding air moist. (aswell as spraying). If you do decide to leave the plant in doors don't keep it near a radiator or central heating this dries the air out far too much and isn't good for the majority of bonsais.
Chinses elms are fairly hardy and do stay alive much longer than you'd expect without leaves. In the off chance you think it's really dead try planting it outside directly in the ground. This is a technique used to strengthen bonsais particularly early in life to thicken the trunk and also helps revive "dead" plants. Don't worry about it growing too much that you can't bonsai it again...it sounds like it could do with a non restricted growth for a while (maybe a whole year) when it's healthy again repot it and prune the roots (plenty of books out there).
Paul