I am sorry for Arnie and other competent teachers who are not from these countries but that's the way it is, like it or not.

And I am NOT sorry for Chinese kids duped by Russians who say they are British, Ghanaians who say they're Canadians, and Cameroonians who say they're from British Cameroon. That's the way it is.

As for the Chinese recruiter/ English training centre owner living in Shijiazhuang, he said he can place Germans, Portuguese and Poles, but not Africans nor teachers from the Philippines, as foreign teachers of English! I know him very well. Unlike you me, he knows the EFL market in China very very well! It's not just about native and non-native speakers of English. As he said, that city's parents and kids won't accept BLACK teachers.

As for the visa regulations here, they're B/S! Eire doesn't even get a mention, neither does South Africa. China would be better to discard the list of the five English-speaking countries.

"Get on the track"

It seems you are off the rails. [edited]

I would not allow you to teach my children English.

Once again I will state, have a look at the job advertisements for English teachers, they want native speakers.

Question; If you want your children to learn chinese, will you seek out a chinese person or a Mexican?
Question; If you have desires to learn to cook fine Japanese cuisine, will you ask an Egyptian or a Japanese person?

You are not getting English teaching jobs in china because you are NOT a native speaker. It has nothing to do with the colour of your skin.

[deleted by Moderator]

Foreign teachers originated from the Philippines have a hard time getting jobs teaching in China too. It's our skin color and Asian looks that makes troubles for us. Also, the money offered us is less than what whites get paid for doing the same job. Any guy saying Chinese directors of schools don't discriminate against Africans is totally wrong. Get back on the track, man!

But the agent who enticed me here had no job for me, though she gave me a free room and free use of the company's office equipment to help me search for a job.

I wonder if you were offered a job by that agent before you underwent your long, and subsequently fruitless, train journey from Guangdong to Yuncheng. I suspect the vacancy was urgent, and was offered to you orally. As old China hands know from bitter experience, oral job offers like that one can fall through, as indeed verbal promises can!
But what would undoubtedly be very useful would be the name of the Yuncheng agent who enticed you to Yuncheng. Then we can give her a wide berth. Can't see it being EV, but I did hear there's a Chinese woman aka Jane? with an office across from the main bus station whose speciality is supplying elementary schools with foreign teachers. Her boss is a Chinese 'businessman'. It is said that quite recently two of your fellow countrymen used her office keys to remove and reset computer office equipment to try to recoup some of the salary they'd been duped out of by her. After that, they took off hastily, but weren't reported to the police, probably because they were employed on illegal visas. That is not to say that there aren't other foreign teachers in Yuncheng and its associated counties working illegally too! The thing about those geographical areas is the Yuncheng PSB won't investigate such matters, and the local police won't either, especially not them. You can be sure that this situation has been 'arranged' by the local Chinese agents before they recruit foreign teachers wih the wrong visas. Enough said, methinks. You can use your imagination to give you the reasons! I guess that Yuncheng has hordes of Poles/ Russians and Africans teaching with F visas, I've met quite a few here. But it must be obvious to the authorities here that there isn't anywhere near the local diversity of factories and production to warrant so many F visa holders being here! A bit of a joke really, but joking apart, wherever you go to in China, ensure you have enough cash to exit the country at very short notice, should that ever become necessary. Security of employment can be a major issue for those who aren't passport holders of a 'big five' country! For those who don't know which ones they are, the list comprises the USA, the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. If you're not from one of them, it can be hard to get a Z visa, seemingly.
Yes, the multitalented and versatile Mr Rivers is back. He's very good at matching a given foreigner with a suitable workplace and a t/a who won't make a teacher's life a misery. In his absence there were more problems of that kind, so he was tempted back by the good doctor, though it would surely have cost him more money to have done so!

You state that the recruiters are "racist arseholes" yet at the same time you feel the need to inform us on the colour of the skin of the person who gave you a list of recruiters.
Why do we need to know that "a white man" gave you a list? How is it relevant? Would the list be different if his skin was green, orange, purple or blue?