Teaching at Qiong Zhou is a definite challenge. The lack of foreign teacher housing and problems this creates are significant. Also, the cost of living in Sanya is very high.

The purpose of my posting, however, is not to discuss the conditions at Qiong Zhou because this has already been done. However, I would like to address the comments made about Victoria, the current Foreign Affairs Officer. The reason Victoria took over the responsibility for paying the foreign teachers was that the Finance Department was unable to pay 5 foreign teachers without screwing it up. This resulted in my being underpaid for 2 pay periods. However, this was quickly straightened out when Victoria took over. Because she was aware we were going to be traveling over the Spring Festival holiday, Victoria took money out of her personal account to pay both my husband and I before we left on our holiday, even though she had not received any money from the Finance Department at that time. For the balance of the semester we were paid on time every month. At the end of the semester, Victoria ensured that we received both salary and travel reimbursement so we would have enough time to deal with the banking issues before we left Sanya. Victoria was completely honest and ethical in all her dealings with us and she does not deserve to be branded as a cheat or called an embezzler.

As far as the Li people go -- most of them are lovely people -- they have a wonderful culture, and their weaving, singing, dancing -- all of this is beautiful. I have had Li students for 8 years, and have visited in many of their villages, and they have been kind and friendly. This ethnic group are the indigenous people of Hainan, and have been treated miserably for the past 500 years or so by the invading Han. It's not surprising that they hold grudges against the Han. So, I didn't mean my post to be a slam against the Li people. Yes there is a village nearby that is a problem -- rather than getting jobs (which are available at either the uni next door, or they could commute into town) -- they prefer to spend their days gambling. Some of the young men are involved in drugs, and these are the trouble-makers.

The prices on apartments in Sanya are going higher. A modest 2 bedroom apartment that was 2000 RMB last year is now running for 3000. There are no immediate plans to build housing for FTs. What is supposed to be completed by November 2010, is housing for foreign students. These are basically dorm rooms, with no kitchen. I believe the plan is to get the FTs to move into these one-room flats. I'm a bit concerned that they are located just next to the new gate, which is just next to the problem village, and about 1/2 mile away from the rest of the housing, the dining room on campus. In light of the lax security on campus, this will probably not be safe housing! When we came to the uni, we were promised a 3 bedroom apartment in the new teacher housing, and we were told that the teacher housing would be completed in Spring 2010. Well, now the date for completion of that housing has been pushed to Spring 2011, and it appears that there is now no plans to house FTs there. So, for the next year or two, at least, FTs will either have to live in a dorm room, without a kitchen, or live off campus and pay inflated rent.

Aside from the living conditions, another thing that I found a bit annoying is that there are no "conveniences" nearby the campus -- or even on the campus. Most Chinese unis have little shops sprinkled around campus, or just outside the gate, where one can buy things like water, soft drinks, snacks, noodles, and basic household goods -- those kinds of things. But there is NOTHING either in or around the university except one small store located in the dorm area, which is a long walk from where the classrooms are.