As SB said, the tide has turned, expats are fleeing to Thailand. Ft's are also going home or elsewhere.

The fish rots from the head applies to China.

I think the above is true.

However, some FTs still prefer China, mainly because of minimal teaching hours in the public education sector, eg 14x45 minutes/week, and only having to attend school for teaching class.

In short, China is ideal for lazy westerners who teach to live.

.... it went backward following the Tiananmen square protests (that were in fact nationwide protests in hundreds of cities, and later on riots), the regime never forgot and still fears its people more than anything else.

Jiang and Hu played the card of nationalism in a subtle manner, they did not spread xenophobia and followed Deng's principles of "hiding your strength" and better foreign relations.

It is Xi who, belonging to the elitist faction whose members are offspring of communist revolutionaries born with a golden spoon in their mouth, increased national pride to compensate the slows in GDP growth and hold onto his power.

I agree with it all, and I think the anti-corruption push, including deportation of China's illegal aliens, is complementary to the other traits that the leadership has been following.

Coming back to xenophobia and racism, in Europe and most of the West it took a lot of education and a bit of self-shaming (for White people) to create the multiracial societies that we know today. Will China do the same? No, definitely no.

I agree that China will never become a multiracial society in the way that many western societies have developed. We, as non-Chinese, will always be outsiders wjhile living in the PRC. The brilllliant minds of other countries will never congregate within China to share their knowledge to develop science and medicine. There are too many restrictions on their movements here that they'd never tolerate!

Again, I'd like to stress that teaching illegally in China is no longer an option worth considering in my view due to the stiff penalties that have been on the books for a few years to date, and appear to be being enforced these days!

Yes, Portugal and Spain offer similar bait deals, but the price is higher in Spain. The Chinese win out other us either way, they can get an EU passport for simply buying property in Portugal or Spain, but if we as british people in China buy property we can't get a green card/passport or residency of any kind, no matter you have been there 10 years or longer. They are extremely crafty in this way.

Yes, all of what you have said is true. Morteover, we will always be outsiders here in China both in the eyes of government officials and many local people. After leaving the small city where I had been working, my train was passing through Zhangzhakou, Hebei Province, when I happened to see some rail travellers on a platform using their cellphones to take photos of a goods train transporting tanks and other military vehicles. Those photographers were extremely delighted with what they had seen! I was so disappointed by this!

The thing is getting the bloody Z visa.

British people are being given short shrift with regards to Chinese visas and it is absolutely outrageous given we are allowing Chinese easier access to visas to visit the UK. Reciprocal visa policy my a**e!!!!

Are you referring to Cameron trying to entice opulent Chinese mainlanders to purchase property in Blighty and bank money there in order to be allowed to visit the UK as they like?

Cameron's a politician I'd never trust. Can't see him doing much for the working class back home.

Thank you, Sarah.

Just to go on from my earlier post: I had heard that the school had been let down at the last minute by an American who had accepted the vacant post and that I was accepted as a very late replacement for him as I would be able to get there in time to teach from the start of the school year. The school had been desperate!

Later on, the FAO had supplied my cellphone number to private school bosses even though my contract specified it was necessary for me to ask permission before accepting offers of second jobs. I asked for permission, just to see what the response would be - it was a negative.

When I realized I had not been registered for all those months as living in that city, I confronted the FAO about that. He said not to worry. When I went on to talk about the PSB, he said the school wouldn't let them pass through the gate, so I needn't worry. At that point I went to the headmaster.

In the light of my experience there and having read what others have said on forums, my strong advice is that no newby who wishes to teach should come to China without a Z visa, and that a foreign teacher should not take on a second job without asking permission first if it specifies this in the contract.

True, but it is usually only training centres where they check. That is where the illegals
mostly work. Sometimes universities are checked. I don't know about other cities, but in
Nanning and Guilin most of the teachers are illegally working on L visas. A few have
been caught and deported. Some never get caught as the schools have paid off corrupt
officials, and are always tipped off before any raid takes place.

Hi Silverboy,

First and foremost, many thanks for your pics of sexy Chinese gals. I've a special request - could you post a pic of a leggy girl in hotpants in pantyhose, a stick insect kinda girl? That kind really turns me on!

Last but not least, as a serial visa offender, I've recently had to leave my state senior school under a cloud cos the local police discovered my presence while doing a routine check of rented accommodation near the school where I was teaching. The school headmaster has sorted things. My contract was finished early by mutual consent, I was not cheated financially, and the school FAO has had his knuckles severely rapped for having hired me. I had taught there for almost two semesters, and was given 3 days to leave that city, which I did happily. I was also told never to return there to teach illegally again, and that the minimum fine is 6,000 RMB plus mandatory deportation and up to a five-year banishment, rising to 20,000 RMB for someone like me. The school is clearly scared shitless of the provincial PSB and has no special relationship with them.

That's me retired now, and I think it's good to get out unscathed after having bucked the system for years and years.