Let me provide you with more background information about my two former colleagues on 50 RMB/hour. This might well be of interest to posters who insist that I settle for too little salary-wise here. BTW, I believe I originally introduced "Am I Right or Am I Right?" to this board, but I didn't know at that time that it would be eagerly adopted by another poster who may be trying to annoy by using it constantly.

Colleague A: Actually, a Chinese-Londoner from a wealthy family. Introduced to the largest private Shanxi K12 by a notorious Chinese agent. Said agent will contact laowei he thinks are floggable whose resumes he has seen on this board's resumes section. Arrived late because he chose to come on a Z visa. Is here to perfect his Chinese so that he can eventually engage successfully in assisting exceedingly wealthy local Chinese to invest in London realty. Complained about the school's welcoming dinner and looked down on the locals. Told me that the really rich Chinese here order restaurant dishes at 10,000 RMB/dish. I was fortunate he arrived late. That's why I was taken on temporarily.

Colleague B: Chinese-Californian from a poor family. Here through a Guangdong lady agent. A down-to-earth bloke not teaching on a Z. Dislikes the US. Looking to marry a local Chinese and settle here.

Both of them were quickly seeking extra weekend and evening work, with EF and other private language schools of the provincial capital. But they were having difficulty obtaining such work, presumably because of their Asian appearances. Colleague A was on 25 classes/week while colleague B was on 20 classes/week.

To me, free school grub + 6,000 RMB received in cash for a 20 X 40 class/week timetable during a month that encompassed 5 days' local holidays was a fair deal. But Taiyuan remains badly polluted, so I had no regrets leaving there.