I actually took the job at this uni and didn't see these comments in reply to my original request until I was browsing the Internet a couple of months into my contract here.

I have to say that i have never had any problems with pay or remuneration of any kind. I've not had the misfortune to have to visit the hospital while I've been working here so I can't comment on the medical bill issue.

The 'watcher staff' as they've been described still live on the bottom floor of the building that FTs live in. They don't seem to mind us having gatherings or parties this year and im not aware of them entering teacher's flats for no reason or without permission. In fact the university has been very accommodating towards me and allowed me an extra apartment when family and friends have come to visit me here.

The list of rules above the TV is something of an eye sore when you first arrive. Personally I covered mine with a nice picture, the bonus being that because the rules are on laminated card the blue tac on my picture won't now mark the wall and I won't be in violation of rule 3. - keep the apartment in good condition, ha ha! Perhaps they should put these 10 points into the contract but in all honestly they are all things which would be pretty obvious to most people in most situations and include things like, don't lose your keys, no pets and if there is a fire call 110. They are hardly restricting you in any real way unless you happen to be a forgetful, dog loving pyromaniac which thankfully I am not! Ha ha.

The job itself is fairly easy. Last term I taught 6, 1.5hr classes a week so that's a total of 9 clock hours a week which is well below the contracted 13.5hours. This term the workload has been a little heavier with the classes upto the maximum 13.5 although I still enjoy 3 days off every week. A couple of things worth watching for are that you may be given some classes that aren't spoken English classes with English majors. For example some teachers have been given international marketing classes this term as well as teaching oral English. There are also two campuses, while they are very close together (10mins max. By bus) i can imagine it would bug some teachers to have to travel between the two. The university actually provides shuttle buses which run between the campuses free of charge for all faculty but they also gave us a transport allowance at the beginning of the year.

Bengbu is not the cleanest city in the world but by Chinese standards I'd say it is far from being the worst I've seen. In all honesty if you want clean then I wouldn't bother boarding a plane to work in any Chinese city. The campus itself is quite pleasant and has lots of areas of grass and trees as well as being situated on the shore of longzi hu (dragon lake) which itself is a nice and clean area. There are areas of the city which are grubby including parts of the downtown around the old train station. Like a lot of Chinese cities there is mass development and redevelopment going on. The centre itself is being relocated around huai he wen hua guang chan (the huai river cultural square) where you can find the major supermarkets like Carrefour, rt mart and Walmart as well as lots of shops, cinemas, restaurants and bars. This new area is clean, modern and convenient. The areas where the food production factories are located are way out on the west side of town, a good 15kms from the university. It does stink out there but you'd have no reason to go there in the first place and it was only morbid curiosity that took me out there the one time. I've heard that the burning off of crops has caused major pollution in this area in the past. Fingers crossed it won't have such a bad effect this year, supposedly tougher laws and penalties have been bought in but we'll have to see if that actually makes any difference. I've lived in 3 Chinese cities prior to this one and I can honestly say the air quality on the campus is better than any of the other places I've stayed in china. What I would say is that bengbu is hardly the most interesting city in the world. If you're looking for a place with a great nightlife or social scene then bengbu is not for you. There are probably about 10 other foreigners living and working in the city at one time so don't expect to find the kind of expat bars or restaurants that you might find in other larger cities in china. Fortunately bengbu is on the new high speed rail line between shanghai and Beijing so if you are dying for a Starbucks, draught beer or xxxx cuisine then you're not that far from them.

In conclusion, I'd say the best thing about this job is that they (the powers that be) just leave you to get on with things both in regards what you do in the classroom and your personal life. It's an easy if not sometimes mundane existence.