my email pay slips

Yep, in actual fact there are many employers who won't even give you a copy of a payslip.

Even though I've been working in China for many years, I'm beginning to think that there are many flaws in my knowledge, perhaps you or somebody else who has kept their nose to the ground will try and pin some things down for me:-

Let me tell you what my understanding is- If you are at home in Pennsylvania, how can you avoid not going through some sort of Recruitment Agency (crappy or otherwise, you wouldn't know) if you want a job in a Chinese state school. My knowledge is this (which I'm beginning to think incorrect after reading these threads) that state schools never employer you directly and that you have to actually work for a crappy or otherwise private company (often calling themselves schools) who have a contract to supply teachers to middle schools etceteras. The middle school will not be your employer. Now is that true or false?

Unless you have the ability to phone up universities yourself, you will be obliged to go through a recruitment agent (crappy or otherwise); however, in the case of state universities, once you arrive on campus and the recruitment agency has been paid (they sometimes get paid after you have been there five days, sometimes longer) you will lose contact with that agency. True or false?

If it's a private outfit (centre,school, crappy or otherwise) they use recruitment agencies and they also scour profiles and recruit themselves. True or false?

I believe if you are a hopeful young American and have never worked in China before you must go through some sort of agency. If you want to work in a state school you have to work for a money-grabbing teacher supplier (say money grabbing because i think they're all like that) True or false? i think if you are a newbie you just have to hope for the best and suck it and see. Bad experiences in China in a way are a must-character-building.

I only work for universities but because I know lots of people (other FT's) and speak Mandarin I can avoid even the transient agent- otherwise, get ye to a crappy agent young man-but read these threads of warning first and ignore them at your peril.

So, that's my knowledge which may be incomplete. It would be good advice if somebody answered me How to avoid working for a money-grabbing middle school FT supplier if i want to work in a state school and how to have nowt to do with recruitment agencies, be they just recruiters or recruiter/employers.