Walter,

Yuncheng EV, Yuncheng English Village, place teachers and have placed teachers in all of those areas.

Wenxi, LvCheng, Hejin and Jishan are all part of Yuncheng and any schools that hire teachers in those locations would need approval through the Yuncheng PSB for passports, visas, and FEC's. Yuncheng is the government centre for that area. Teachers who work in those places come in to Yuncheng for visa paperwork, unless on marriage visas - those are handled in Taiyuan. A marriage visa, btw, is one of the few ways to limit (but not eliminate) some of the bad things I have written about in this thread. Being a German engineer for the local roads or TGV is another.

Wenxi took a huge economic hit when the steel mill shut down. More so than other places.

Hejin may be going the way of Ruicheng where they do not want foreign teachers.

The days of coming in on L/F visas, now L/M, are over. I continue to read of schools, agents and recruiters placing ads for jobs suggesting or saying that one can arrive on a tourist or business visa and then convert it and work, but this is illegal and now will get you in trouble. Lots of it. I see this for Yuncheng, but also for cities all over China.

The few direct hire schools in Yuncheng know this, and their ads are quite clear about what you need. These schools also make a point of saying they do the paperwork directly. They distance themselves from the others who do things incorrectly.

If your company asks you to travel to Hong Kong or Qingdao to get your visa paperwork done, then you are illegal and they are 'resetting' your visa and FEC so that you can continue to teach. Hong Kong by getting a visa 'out of the country', Qingdao via a company 'friend' who can do it there.
If you DO go to either place, open the packet they tell you not to open - inside will be the forged credentials that get you your visa under false pretenses. Someone else's degree, etc.

You must have a degree, 3 or 4 year, a TEFL cert is now all but required but sometimes not, and have real, actual, teaching credentials with 2-yrs in home country in class experience in a very few cases. Though the real teaching back home is far less often required and is for larger cities and the IB schools and such. In Yuncheng and Yuncheng EV they won't ask for such credentials.

Some Yuncheng agents state that a 2-year degree is enough, that's not legal and that ends up with inspections and passport seizures.

Arriving on a tourist or business visa will simply make money for your employer at the expense of your freedom, legality and bank account.

Do not do this - it is not 2012 any longer. You cannot do what those who arrived in earlier years have done. Those days are gone.

Since the police made much of their income on bribes, and those bribes have disappeared along with the banquet lunches and gifts since the crackdown began, they are seeking to recoup their lost income on the backs of foreign teachers.

It should be obvious that they do not care, at all, what foreigners think of them, Yuncheng, or China; nor do they care that they are taking your money in the form of fees and fines for violating various visa and FEC laws. You are one of the few sources of potential income remaining.

They just want their money, and it's going to come from you.

Yuncheng EV, Yuncheng English Village, Ji and the office staff will not be paying for those fines.

You will.

You also may get deported and a nice little "do not return to China for 5/7/10 years" stamp in your passport. You may also be placed into a database of course.

I know that most information online, on blogs, in forums, in books, from former teachers, says that China is 'the Wild West' and anything goes and that it is lawless and you do not need a degree to teach.

I know that most sites say that if you are young, speak English at any level, and are breathing you are hired.

Well, those days are over as of March, 2015.

After the Spring Festival 2 months ago, everything changed for the worse.

Even with a degree, CELTA and 2 years of experience, you may still be harassed and such.

I do not recommend teaching there, not any longer.

If you have a degree and CELTA you can teach ESL anywhere except the gulf.

If you have a credential and experience on top of that, you can teach in IB schools globally, or the gulf. Those positions will pay 3x to 8x what you will earn in China.