Well I can't really say things about 5 years ago. I have to say I've had a very positive experiance here in Lianyungang. We have a great apartment, and a lot of support from the owner and manage ment staff here in the Xinpu area of the city. Nothing is perfect, but you can't apply western thinking, values and standards to China. I asked lots of questions before comming here and most of my expectations have been met, and even exceeded. Hell, my current apartment is better than many of the apartments I have had in the USA!
The staff here has been a great help in many areas of living here. They have been able to help my find things for my hobbies and projects, and have been a huge help when I have been able to travel to other cities like Xi'an and Shanghai.
Here is my best advice for people considering teaching english in China: 1) Read the book River Town (a good book about an english teacher's 2 years teaching in china in '97), 2) Ask lots of questions of local teachers in the area, and even frequent chinese travelers if there are any available, 3) Leave western standards and values in the west (it is ok to apply them to yourself, but don't apply them to the locals, and even be careful of applying them to other forigen teachers as even other english speaking countries have different opinions on how things should go), 4) reasonable precistance is your best tool here. You might have to explain the situation several times, and over several days (english isn't easy for the local staff, dispite reasonable proficiency) but things will get taken care of in a reasonable amount of time (at least here in the Xinpu district of Lianyungang).
This is an area I recomend to those who'd like to teach english here.
I am well into my first full year here and am looking forward to another year as I am planning on signing on for another.