Your post is a good one.

I have had experience with Baotou PSB at the end of the 90's. I found them to be very obliging, and much, much kinder than their Hohhot counterparts were subseqeuntly. But things in China can change overnight.

Recently, I ran into a former Western colleague of mine on a local bus here. We had been fellow FTs in Changchun a couple of years ago. small world, isn't it? He's teaching in Hohhot these days, but taught in Baotou before coming here. I think he might well know more about what had happened in Baotou, or, if not, he can probably find out from Baotou as he has Western contacts there.

At this point, I'd say a 10,000 Yuan as a fine for an FT for being caught teaching on the side after having broken his contract by not asking permission first is far too steep a financial penalty. More likely, it would be 5,000 Yuan, which seems to be the official ceiling for various offences. Even that would be ridiculously high, in my opinion.

I'll check the China SAFEA blacklist to see if there's anything there to substantiate this case. There could be. I'll need my wife's help to check it out as my Chinese is bad.

Although 'Johnny' has a very low opinion of Baotou PSB, and I don't blame him for that in the circumstances, I reckon that said office is just a puppet of the Atonomous Region's head office in Hohhot, and as so, will follow what their bosses say, to the letter. As Hohhot's puppet, Baotou PSB shouldn't be berated too harshly.

I dunno how autonomous an Autonomous Region can be in applying or ignoring or indeed amending aspects of the visa regulations that have been issued by the Central Body for Foreign Affairs based in Beijing. I know that Hohhot PSB were one of the last offices that still ignored Beijing by locally replacing an incoming L visa with a Z visa backdated to take effect from the entry date into China - I have a Z visa of that kind in one of my old passports. So, they used to be autonomous in a kind way to Westerners!

I'll post again if and when I have more information with regard to this unfortunate case.