You are right that many people are leaving. Not just teachers. There are many reasons. It's hard to change jobs in China, too much paperwork, and a visa is only valid with one employer. A Residence Permit should be valid all over China and it should be easy to move from province to province and change jobs, but it is not. It's difficult to complete even the most simple tasks in China, the Chinese complicate everything to the point of stupidity. Pay like you said is a big issue, teaching salaries in China are crap. Many teachers supplement their income in China by drawing from a savings account back home.

The environment is a big factor in causing ex-pats to leave. Filthy air, traffic jams everywhere, shonky cafes and restaurants , dirty water, a tainted food supply, people are worried about their health and the effects on their health from living for years on end in China. I know one guy from the UK who just moved to Koh Samui in Thailand from China because of the environmental problems in China.

One other thing is the attitude of locals: Why would people want to stay in China when faced with racist and hostile attitudes from the locals? China is not a welcoming country for ex-pats and foreigners are not made to feel welcome in China. The attitude is "we are Chinese, you are not Chinese". So what are you doing here? They want to move to Western countries, but don't like even having small numbers of foreigners in their cities.

The majority of mainland Chinese women are also a big turn off: Most just want to marry ex-pats to get either money or a passport, at least 95 per cent of them. I think more Western men would stay in China if it was easy to find a GF or wife who was willing to live with them long-term in China, but most Chinese women won't accept that situation, they want to go abroad, and expect a man to organize it and pay for everything. Foreign teachers in China are considered to be poor and low-class, and most Chinese women ignore foreign teachers.

In comparison to other Asian women mainland Chinese women are also mostly poor and uneducated, and can't speak English. I've thought about this before: These women must be really stupid, they have no money, no language skills, and they want to go abroad??????????????? Why would any sensible and switched-on foreigner be interested in them?

Japan and Korea are a better bet I feel as far as work and women go. Japanese and Korean girls are more sincere and educated than Chinese girls. Philippines is the place to be in Asia if you don't want to work and just want to chill out, have a pretty GF sometimes , but NEVER marry a Philippines girl, just have fun with them.

I know some Aussies who are planning to leave China. One guy has already divorced his Chinese wife and left. They are planning to sell their houses in Sydney or Melbourne and buy property in Tasmania, and live there, because it is still cheap there. In the future people will move there and the prices will go up: Melbourne is not far from Tasmania, it is a big city, it's population is growing like crazy and is expensive. When Melbourne becomes just another polluted and expensive shithole the residents will start to move south, and those former Aussies zhongguo tongs will make a nice profit.

Anyway, maybe other posters here can give further reasons for the China exodus?