oh, oh indeed

Are you still in China?

The lesson here is don't leave a school without first getting your release letter. The release letter should be given to you, it doesn't need to go to the government straight away, all it is a letter from your employer that says you no longer work for that school and which is stamped with the official stamp of the institute in question. Processing time should be no longer than it takes to type out a couple of lines to that effect, print it out and stamp it. You'll then be able to hand the release letter to your new employer and they'll include this with the various other documents needed in order to process a new RP & expert certificate.

There are plenty of other recruiters, public schools & universities (it's just coming to the end of peak recruitment season for them) and private schools to look at, obviously the usual rules of being cautious when talking to these people apply. I'm sure you'll have no problems finding a new job, you're not the first and you won't be the last teacher to be screwed over in this way. If you get a job offer or a contract then by all means post it on this board and others will be happy to give you some advice on the content and possible questions to ask.

I have to say you're being very generous by not giving the names of these schools and individuals responsible. It seems school A has deliberately sabotaged your move and school B has hung you out to try by not returning your emails.

Good luck