AGree wit everything posted here. Just finished working at this shithole. Not only are they advertising specific holiday periods and additional work available when on holiday, but I actually asked them both before I came to China and after I got here. They assured me that I would be on holiday no longer than 6 weeks this summer, probably less. When the holiday came I got a piece of paper telling me I would be on holiday for around 3 months, I still haven't returned to work.

I have been doing some part time work to make up for the loss of earnings as they could not give me sufficient classes to cover. I have told them I am leaving as my contract is only 6 months so I am due to renew. After reading some of the stories about those who could not get a transfer of employment sorted out I fully expect to get messed around, no doubt they have cancelled, or will be canceling my visa. I intend to go to the visa office in Tianjin and inform them that I want to change employers and see what they say, perhaps that may stop them but I bet it won't.

I am going home for a holiday anyway so if need be I will just start over, there's nothing they can do about that. At least I can post up here and other sites and keep people aware that they are STILL continuing to screw their staff around.

Oh and another thing people may find quite interesting. When I started working here I was informed that someone was causing trouble for the company and trying to loose them business. That in order to help protect my employment there, would I mind posting up a review on the internet that helped make Yuming look good. They said that if they had to close I would obviously have no job and also my visa would be affected too. I was given a badly written piece of paper and asked to make comments on some of the items listed on it, I never actually got around to doing it, glad I didn't knowing what I know now.

Read some comments about foreign experts certificates too, can't remeber if it was here or somewhere else, I asked them where mine was after reading about it and told them that I had been stopped by the police and asked to produce it. Even after saying this they still denied any knowledge of its existence, which I know is bollocks because apparently if you have a residency permit and the right to work they issue one, the post I read said something about one does not come without the other.

They then told me that if there were any problems with the police to give them the office number and they would deal with it for me. In other words, they would show the certificate to the police on my behalf so they could keep hold of it.

I also have to agree with the things said about never meeting other teachers too. I didn't work with anyone else in my schools, whenever I went to the office I was always the only teacher in at the time. I was never given the chance to meet anyone to make friends and only met a couple of teachers, one by chance near the office who I spoke to and one by chance on a night out somewhere and discovered we worked at the same place when we were talking.

I never got the chance to take part in any of these free courses they talk about. When I asked about them they kept telling me "Maybe" you can start them soon or "I will ask for you". I gave up in the end and started learning Chinese from a tutor I found.

So all in all, my 6 month contract turned out to be a 3 month contract due to the holidays, they had no extra work for me and have probably already been and cancelled my visa, I will find out soon enough when I goto the visa office.

Oh one more thing I forgot, my health insurance. I can also confirm that I never signed any documents that relate to health insurance either. The only health related matter I had was when I first arrived and Helen took me along the street to a near by mini hospital place for a health check. This is a requirement for the visa and everyone living here from abroad has to have one. Apart from that I have seen and heard nothing about health insurance, I even asked once when I was ill and had to go to the hospital because of food poisoning. I called Yuming for help and they did nothing, I had to find and make my own way to the hospital and luckily there was a very nice Chinese woman who spoke English that helped explain what was wrong. I paid twice, once for the doctor and then for the medicine. When I asked about the insurance at Yuming they seemed like they were trying to avoid the matter and gave me the impression they did not understand what I was talking about, I think they knew very well but just wanted to pretend they didn't.

As things progress with the visa situation I will post further details. Don't mess up by working for these horrible people, they have made my first experience of China a lousy one and I almost feel like throwing in the towel and heading back home for good.