I remember some time ago asking a FAO friend why she had a low salary, her answer was straight and blunt, "most of the foreigners in China are the bottom of the barrel, they can't find work in higher requirement countries so they have very little choice."

What you have posted above is similar to the kind of crap you can hear on the BBCWS and the VOA from time to time.They talk about the number of poor people in the world earning less than a dollar a day.That statement by itself is not an indicator of poverty or otherwise.The local cost of living in dollar terms has to be taken into account too.So,when your FAO friend talks about her low salary,I know she doesn't know what she's on about.FT's in China usually earn at least beween 3/2 and 2 times the salary of their Chinese colleagues.And Chinese teachers are very well-paid compared to factory hands and keyboard operators,etc.

Teaching in China can be a sinecure.Short working hours,little or no pressure at work,free accommodation and other financial perks make it a good number.In developed countries,though,as a teacher you would be working much longer hours under pressure for a much higher wage.But the high cost of living there and having to rent a house would make your affordable lifestyle a very average one.

If,as you claim,'most of the foreigners teaching here are bottom of the barrel',I'd say they've landed lucky here despite their low status,ie they can 'earn' relatively good pay for doing very little.That's why in the EFL world,many EFL teachers prefer teaching in China to doing so in other Asian countries or indeed in the West.In China one can teach virtually part-time for a reasonably high standard of living if one avoids training centers,private schools and international schools,sth I've been doing here for fifteen years.