As I said they left of their own volition.

A week before they were supposed to go to Hong Kong they were told that it was not possible to get them a foreign experts certificate or a z visa as it had been denied in Taiyuan. I believe they were offered a further months extenson in Qingdao or call it quits. They chose the latter.

Myself and several others covered some of their classes after they had left. I think they moved a teacher from Linyi to Yongji as the school in Linyi made it crystal clear to EV that unless the foreigner has a resident permit they can't teach there. I wouldn't be surprised if the school in Linyi ditches foreigners altogether later.