There are 10 years of posts about living in China on this board and on the one called something like School Reviews; most are negative. Of course, unhappy people are known to post more often than happy people. So, 100,000 posts do not mean that it's difficult to have a good time teaching in China. A lot depends on the school, and on your attitude, and bank account (if you have enough money for your return ticket, you will feel less like a slave).

Good to have negative experiences, Aphrodite, builds up one's character. Take Mr Wu; he admits to treating young FT's like shit, but I feel he should get some sort of Queen's commendation, some sort of acknowledgment for hardening up the little shits. How can we appreciate good days if we haven't had bad ones? We all must be started on a learning-curve. Am I right or am I right?

"Some people in the park searched high and low to find me the other day because I had left my mobile on a bench."
Did you find your mobile?

Hangzhou it is. End of August.

Consulate on Monday.

I'm sure a litany of complaints about China will be provided you. I'd like to provide some of the advantages of living in China.

1) China is experiencing a rapid historic transformation. If you have any interest in observing a society in transition, you will have a 'front row seat' if you live anywhere in China during this and the past decade. I am reminded of the U.S. in the 1960s.

2) If you are a moderately pleasant person, the vast majority of Chinese will be welcoming and helpful.

3) The price of living remains markedly lower than in most Western countries.

Seems more expensive than the UK to me unless you live on noodles. The milk is about 5 times more expensive.

4) Personal safety is superior than in the United States and, I suspect, most of Europe.

5) The geographic diversity of China is stunning. I have been here over a decade but there remains many cities and sites that I must visit.

Yes, but within those diversified areas hardly a creature stirs because the Chinese will eat anything, and piss on anything. On a tangent, I observed two 60plus men with catapults yesterday, having a gay old time killing sparrows.

It's gone ten, Trumpsey and we don't have a drop of water yet. The reason is because the Chinese are pig-ignorant and just turn it off at a whim because the ordinary man in the street is of little consequence.

I say, jolly good to have us all back together don't you think after a bit of a coup de wotsit fizzled out?

6) Trump is not president of China.

I'm sure a litany of complaints about China will be provided you. I'd like to provide some of the advantages of living in China.

1) China is experiencing a rapid historic transformation. If you have any interest in observing a society in transition, you will have a 'front row seat' if you live anywhere in China during this and the past decade. I am reminded of the U.S. in the 1960s.

2) If you are a moderately pleasant person, the vast majority of Chinese will be welcoming and helpful.

3) The price of living remains markedly lower than in most Western countries.

4) Personal safety is superior than in the United States and, I suspect, most of Europe.

5) The geographic diversity of China is stunning. I have been here over a decade but there remains many cities and sites that I must visit.

6) Trump is not president of China.

To me, it's all the same as the disadvantages of living in China always far outweigh the advantages that any city has to offer.

Hangzhou without a doubt. Food is good. I like Hangzhou's botanical garden, West Lake, the "tourist traps", the many pagodas, temples and museums. I like tea, which is celebrated like a deity here in Hangzhou. Transportation is excellent (lots to see during my days off). Bunch of universities and high schools (lots of students to tutor). I would definitely go for Hangzhou as Nanjing does not inspire me (but that's personal).