Good luck in Shanxi, you won't be short of coal.

Short of coal? I'm sick of the sight of the stuff! So far, after a month of teaching in the province, that's about the only big negative I can come up with. Net to worry, nothing is perfect. The main thing is that I'm back in employment, other things pale into insignificance in comparison.
I seem to recall that you were teaching in a coastal city of Shandong. A better living environment than Shanxi, of that there's no doubt.
I hope you can continue to teach in China in your upandcoming golden years. In spite of what some say about teaching here, I'm sure it's a better deal overall than teaching in most of its Asian neighbours. If I were to try another country for EFLing, I'd go to Thailand or Vietnam, but I'd limit my job search to the public sector.