Try opening your mind and don't make assumptions.

Fair enough. But I think I am right in ASSUMING that he has stayed in NC for four years, either way you cut and dice it, it is all the same.

Those are certainly good examples that you brought up. Personally for me it doesn't matter if it's public or private, but the fact is in developing countries good places to work at are scarce, very scarce! China though will stop at nothing to advertise overseas and promote herself as sounding like a 2nd coming of the USA with all of the opportunities that were in American from years ago (and are not available now due to the poor economy). This type of deceptive self promotion pulls many naive, inexperienced individuals into the foray and can cause devastating results with giving teachers a bad experience, some of which may lead to even therapy or at the very least depression for over a longer period of time.

One is an FAO at a very good university and the other is a foreign teachers who has been in Nanchang 4 years

Thanks for your post. If I may, I would like to address your posts, solely from personal experiences during my time here.

1. I will never trust an FAO, they will always embellish and obfuscate the truth, or basically admit nothing to the wai jiao. It is pretty much part of their job description, and as previously mentioned nanchang ren have a bad reputation even amongst other chinese. That is not good, no matter how it is dressed up.

2. And an FT who has stayed for four years in that one place, please. The guy is either a total skinflint, desperate to save every rmb, or a grovelling weasel in the pocket of some corrupt rat bastard nanchang ren FAO or other official. To stay 4 years in Nanchang requires either a very thick skinned personality, sheer laziness and or lack of ambition, or some mental disorder, or perhaps all of those.

Nanchang, like Changsha, is now just another xenophobic hellhole full of GW's, not worth bothering with at all.

I have spoken with 2 people in Nanchang RE this information. One is an FAO at a very good university and the other is a foreign teachers who has been in Nanchang 4 years, Both have said they have heard nor seen any such problems..

The other question worth considering would be is there an established divide between public and private sector corruption. I think that you'll find there is a large amount of cross pollination between the two.

As for a couple of general examples of corruption in public education
- tofu dreg construction
- differing admissions procedures and/or 'sponsorship fees'
- academic corrupition i.e. plagiarism

There are direct links to these problems and the working conditions of foreign teachers. It's also worth asking yourself whether you think an institution that is willing to skip on construction costs leaving teachers and students in dangerous buildings (and then pocketing the difference), taking back handers from parents to get their kids into the best schools/classes and allowing rampantant and unchecked cheating to occur in their school is likely to be a good employer, honour all the terms of their contract and do what's best for the welfare of teachers who work in such places.

Comparing corruption in one area of China vs. another is a bit like comparing a turd sandwich vs. a sh** burger and which one tastes less like cr*p. You haven't given clear examples of corruption in the public sector and while they may exist, they don't affect the immediate, personal livelihood of foreign teachers as much as the private educational sector. I think it's more important for expat teachers to know about the "schools" or schools that advertise a lot and will stop at nothing to spend money to deceive so they may exploit newbies.

There have been major arrests of both the Vice President and Party Secretary at a leading university at Nanchang, Jiangxi province connected with the aeronautical industry. It is rumored that more arrests may follow, particularly at other leading Nanchang universities, as arrests are linked to the scandal of the new university campuses built at Nanchang's new area. It has been alleged that a large amount of cash, perhaps as much as ten million, has been recovered from a property connected with the arrests.

Absolutely none of this surprises me in the least. In that crappy city, a taxi driver from Jiujiang told me he hated Nanchang ren, and the city itself does not have a good reputation as a decent place to live, too industrial, too polluted, too mired in mao era thinking and obfuscation....Personally, I detest that city as I have stated before, it has no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

Yes, the men involved in education especially the leaders ARE corrupt. It is perhaps more prevalent than in other parts of China, and I suspect I know to which universities you are referring here. Those campuses are a red herring for prospective FT's as you will be stuck 1 and half hours in the middle of nowhere, with absolutely nothing to do. The winters are also terrible in Nanchang, which means the boredom factor and isolation will be very harsh, unless you are content being a "shut in".

Avoid, avoid, avoid, and I hope that all these horrible [edited]

There have been major arrests of both the Vice President and Party Secretary at a leading university at Nanchang, Jiangxi province connected with the aeronautical industry. It is rumored that more arrests may follow, particularly at other leading Nanchang universities, as arrests are linked to the scandal of the new university campuses built at Nanchang's new area. It has been alleged that a large amount of cash, perhaps as much as ten million, has been recovered from a property connected with the arrests. It has been further alleged that the wife of one of the arrested has also been arrested.