Also avoid all private schools that are run in part or in full by Westerners or by Chinese with Western passports. They're too streetwise re education.
Just curious about what you mean as too streetwise re education? Do you mean too stern regarding the FT's teaching methods?

What I mean is they know how things work in China in the field of education. If a foreign teacher works for them, he can expect two things - to have to work too hard for his pay, Western DOS types. and Chinese private school owners who,ve been abroad are the scum of the earth, they will be dishonest, greedy and will treat foreign teachers like lackeys in every way.
Backwater private schools run by Chinese are a better option, but the public schools/colleges/universities are the best choice by far, especially those in small places.

Though education in China is a joke, Being a foreign teacher in China is great for those of us who prefer doing little work for a reasonable pay provided that we exercise great caution as regards choosing our employers. No point to travel so far from our homelands to teach only to result in being sent packing in disgrace!
The problem is without standards it will continue to remain a joke, nothing will ever change in that regard. And yes coming all the way to China without paid airfare does make it less worthwhile!

I'm thinking especially of the non-uniformity of standards of assessment of teachers by assessors that are unqualified to do their jobs. You can be fired quickly by one employer in China, but at the next place your teaching can be considered good!
Of course, if you have a bad release letter, you can visit one of those backstreet EP shops. They will copy the letter on their PC. You can rewrite it, and they will re-stamp it with a copy of the original stamp., Adobe Workshop or sth like that is what they use to do it. They do it regularly for Chinese business people, so they can do a great job. I suppose they'd do an excellent
fake degree too!