I have experience at EF Shenyang, and also one of the UK's top language schools, Embassy CES, where I worked for three years and where I attained a Cambridge DELTA. EF Shenyang is a pretty good place to work.

Salary:
The school offers a good annual salary increase, annual bonus, accommodation - or housing allowance, flight allowance and visa costs. Even at the very starting salary for newly-qualified TEFL teachers, you can enjoy a good standard of living here, and save perhaps 300 UK pounds a month. Teachers with more experience can negotiate higher salaries, and the annual salary increase is very generous. So, for teachers who stay here for a number of years (of which, there are many), the salary is great.

Working hours:
I'm not sure why the term 'long working hours' is being applied to this school. It's a very standard 20 teaching hours per week. Beyond those, teachers are very free, and only required to be in school for non-teaching hours when they are attanding workshops or doing a very minimal amount of class-related admin.

I don't think anyone is under any illusions about language schools being businesses. Of course they are. Of course they need to make a profit - otherwise, they simply wouldn't exist. In any language school, there is a balance between what is good for business and what is good for learning and teaching. This holds true for EF Shenyang, as it does for Embassy CES, which is one of the UK's leading schools - and as it does for every language school in the world. Of course, some schools fail to strike that balance well. Some schools are 100% dedicated to making money without any regard to academic standards. EF Shenyang is certainly not one of those schools.

If there are language schools which pay considerably more than EF, and which provide better support for teachers - both financially, professionally and personally, and which are 100% dedicated to academic standards without any regard to making money... please tell me! As happy as I am working at EF Shenyang, I would certainly consider changing schools for that!