Thank you very much for the reply and offer of support.

In regards to recruiters, I have been in correspondence with many and all have left a shadow of doubt in my mind. These doubts have not only transpired through bad reviews but also the actions of these recruiters. Chinastudyabroad.org with a man by the name of Goldman-Smith really almost had me. Initially I applied for a Boren Scholarship and if accepted this would have allotted 20k to study a "critical" language in the country of origin. Unfortunately I was not accepted but in hindsight I am glad because a good portion of this money would have went to this organization, I think it was like a 12-15k program fee for 1 year. After denial of the scholarship the idea of teaching English was brought up and this is when the organizations true colors were shown. They wanted to charge me 500$ to find employment, the idea of getting a fake BA was vaguely implied, and there were other schemes of this nature that set off red flags. I knew this was not the right way to go and I came to this conclusion before I really started reading alot of teachers posts and reviews. Now that I have done extensive research I am more aware of other pit falls and bad practices. I definitely feel better equipped to deal with these people now and that is due in part to people like you and others who keep it real.

I have read the best way to get a job in China is through word of mouth and actually being present in China. If I do go there lets say on a tourist visa, how hard would it be to switch it to a Z visa? Is there any possible way to get a Z visa without an invitation letter from an employer?

About Taiwan; many of my professors have floated that idea to me as well, for the same reasons as you. Let me first express my reasoning why I do not want to go to Taiwan and then tell me if my logic is flawed. As previously stated I am an IB major, to make myself stand out from the rest I decided to learn Mandarin. From my understanding putonghua is derived from Beijing dialect. While the schools or whatever medium used to study Mandarin in Taiwan would teach the standard form, the linguistic influences of society would nurture a specific accent which would not be suitable or optimal in a business setting. That is the sole reason I want to study, work, and live in Beijing. Honestly, I would love to be in a rural place where there is no western influence and test my personal boundaries but the language conditions in these areas does not match my criteria.

I appreciate your time in this matter and I will be in touch. Thanks