Several schools throughout China routinely lose their licenses. In some cities school license issuing has been completely canceled for ESL schools due to corruption, market saturation, a lack of a syllabus, curriculum, tax evasion, or properly trained staff. In some cities the people that work at the local educational bureau have their own school licenses and they make money under the table by allowing private crap schools to operate as an extension of their license. The local government worker might be getting 4000 Yuan per month, but with 5-10 crap schools kicking them some cash for a license rental fee each month, no one bothers them. In some cities this has been stopped for obvious reasons. All of this varies with each district and in smaller areas the levels of corruption run deeper since there are few people to check on them and with everyone getting a bite of the red envelope no one is causing a stir. At this business that I work at now they are as under handed and they are as dirty as they come. But like all of those corrupt people, their games can run out of steam too. A few days ago while walking in the village near where I work, I was stopped by a male and a female PSB officer. They asked me for my passport. They also asked me many questions about the business that I work for. It looked as if they were watching the bar where many of the teachers hang out. Their English was quite good. They did not strike me as the usual shuffle along cops but they seemed to be well-trained, and they were armed. Most of the cops I see around Beijing don't usually wear guns but these two did. They asked me about my salary, how much I paid in taxes, and how long I had been working and whether or not I had seen anything wrong. They also asked me for my mobile number and where I lived. On my way back I saw another couple of cops sitting in a police car near the walkway that leads back to where I work. They were parked near a gate to some other business facing toward the road but they were clearly watching the area. That's the first time I have ever been stopped and asked for ID where I work. I have been stopped many times in Beijing but usually during holidays or major events. Out where I work it is in the woods and far from the city center. The way this place runs it is bound to end up in some hot water or maybe it already is. Some of the old guard communist party members that have relations with local government officials tend to get a great deal of flex in how they function but if they anger the wrong people or someone does not get their little red envelopes, even those old fogies get roped in now and then. Once my contract is completed I am gone and so are many others around here.