10:48 pm 04/25/2015
Short version:
Do not work in Shanxi or in Yuncheng at any company in that city/county. Perhaps you can work in Shanghai, Beijing or Shenzhen but any other cities in China are now suspect. Backlash due to the economy and rising anti-foreigner sentiment coming down from top leaders.

The fact is that English Village in Yuncheng, Shanxi, has, for whatever reason, become very unreliable.
All other small towns in the area are bad also. Yongji, Houma, Ruicheng, Hejin, Linjin, so on. Just avoid Shanxi entirely.

Yuncheng IELTS has nearly gone out of business with only 3 teachers and no real authority to hire and place teachers in schools. They are limping along and may shut down after this year.

Maybe it is the national crackdown, maybe it is the provincial and local racism - regardless things are very bad and getting much worse.

Obviously the company, Yuncheng English Village, the County/Area/City of Yuncheng, and Province of Shanxi should be avoided like a bad tube station at midnight.

New teachers are not getting visas, passports are being held for months, they are lying about contract terms in all aspects, they move teachers from one school to the next every other month, they do not pay bonuses, they do not pay full salary, they do not provide FEC, they do not provide work permits, the do not provide proper Zed visas, they tell you that you do not need a degree, flats are sketchy, locals spy and report back to the company on you, teachers are required to work two schools separated by a 90 minute bus ride each day, and so on.

The new, as of March, 2015, law is that you MUST have a 4 year real accredited degree to get a work visa and FEC in China, and requiring an FEC and proper Zed visa has always been the legal way to work in China. Now the local and national authorities are enforcing all aspects of the law strictly, and teachers pay the price when the school or company does not do it right.

Yes advertisers still say you do not need a degree to teach in China - that is a lie. You do as of March, 2015. You just are working illegally while your visa sits on a PSB, Public Security Bureau (Police), desk as they wait for your degree, fake or otherwise, that never arrives. Then after months you get angry, demand your passport, and leave.

It is the teacher who pays and is on the hook for anything the company does, not Yuncheng English Village. If immigration officials catch this at the border, you are the one who pays the fines when you attempt to leave China.

When Yuncheng English Village tells you that you are ok, they are simply lying to you.

Well, they are lying in nearly all aspects. They have no credibility at all.

One needs to seriously consider teaching in another country. With a degree, certificate and perhaps education credentials, as some schools in China now demand, you can work in Korea, Japan or The Gulf - for 3 times the money, and clean air, real food, and clean water.

English Village Yuncheng, Shanxi - stay away.

The strongest possible warning and non-recommendation.