Dear Japanda:
What you must know is that most of the "posters" on these pages are negative people. Think about it, there are probably 1-200,000 Foreign teachers in China and you only see approximately .05% of them posting, and if you look a little more closely you will see it the same old group of people who obviously try to dominate evey question, even when they have no experience with the isssue or the school. I taught in China for 16 years at both public Universities and Private training centers. I only had one bad experience so I condiser that a good indication of the reality. Public Universities are your best bet, but of course the salaries are lower. Pay attention to the school and recruiter postings, you will see the same ones consistently, these are the ones to avoid.

I'd say many FT's in China are self-serving.They refrain from naming and shaming bad places to teach online.And some will put up with being messed about much more than others will.As for you,Earthling,what you consider to be a bad experience might be considered an unmitigated disaster by others.And what is acceptable to you might be unacceptable to others.
But I agree with what you say re public universities.I'd also include public colleges,and I'd pay attention to bad reviews of schools and recruiters.Now there is a problem here that didn't exist before - more and more public universities are emulating private schools in that making money has become their primary goal.That can impact negatively on FT's,who are given oversized classes to teach.Unfortunately,even jobseekers who have exercised great caution before accepting a post can end up choosing the wrong one!