The mere fact that a FT is in China is in and of itself "proof" that they are here on the ground whereas a school and a recruiter cannot seem to provide any "proof" that they are running a legit business in any fashion whatsoever when asked to produce "proof" of an address, a license, and a tax certificate issued by the Chinese government.

As for airfare being paid for, for "real professors/teachers" I doubt it. Not in China anyway in 9 times out of 10. I've seen it happen twice in China, and it happens daily in South Korea and many of the so-called "real teachers" riding in on an E2 visa are anything but.

I guess I must be really real then since my current employer flies us all in 1st class for all business trips in excess of 2-hours or more. In fact I just came back on Emirates and had a personal suite. Not a bad experience I must say.