Until recently your desire to teach without a degree in China may have been attainable, even without a TESOL Certificate; however, in the current climate the reverse is more probable. Currently there are thousands of teachers already in China seeking answers to the difficult question concerning their eligibility for visas. The visa situation is pretty confusing right now and explanations thereof are rife with ambiguity. But one thing you can be sure of is that your lack of qualifications will not make you eligible for a legitimate position as an English teacher in China. You may be able to come here on a thirty day tourist visa and hope that a private school will hire you and then hope even more that they won't lie to you about the ease of getting a work visa, but I wouldn't hold my breath on that one. Nor would I take the risk if I were you.

Truthfully, the opening sentence of your post, "I need educating.," may be more realistic than you imagine. Apparently your brother has had it figured out much longer than you. I'm not judging you for being a pot smoking fork lift driver, but I am suggesting that it is never too late to get an education. Believe me, should you do so, and should you then make the decision to teach in China or elsewhere in Asia, you will find it a life changing decision and, for the most part, quite rewarding.

Unfortunately for you, and for many - if not tens of thousands - pretend teachers now in China, the "times they are a changin." Some of them are still in La La land in terms of their awareness of the impending changes. They think that the current visa regulations won't apply to them after October of this year. However, this is just the beginning of a rude awakening. Soon they're going to discover that they'll have to peddle their rusty wares in some other country. They'll no longer be able to get a paycheck for doing next to nothing in China while at the same time blaming everyone else for their incompetence and lack of positive results in the classroom. Moreover, they're going to wake up some day soon and discover that, indeed, they haven't been flying under the radar after all. Nope, not quite stealthy enough. Too bad really, many of us will be sad to see them go......not.

So, the choice is yours my friend. Here's an anecdotal story that may help:

While standing in line to register for college, shortly after graduating from high school, a young man noticed that the man in front of him was extraordinarily old for one who was just beginning college. So he struck up a conversation with the man and politely asked him about his age. The old man, with equal politeness, replied that he was 72 years old. "Wow!" said the young man. "That means you'll be 76 years old when you graduate!" "Quite so," the old man answered. "However, in four years I'll be 76 years old anyway."