Beware of GanSu AnDe Foreign Language Vocational Training School
In April I accepted a job offer with this school to start in September 2009. The owner of the school (Mr Qiao) made little contact with me during the months leading up to September and as a result there was no time to obtain my Z visa before arriving to China. I arrived to Lanzhou on 26th August with my partner ( he had a job teaching at one of the universities in Lanzhou). Mr. Qiao took us to my accommodation which was appalling, simply not fit to live in. It was old and terribly dirty, water poured out of pipes, the electric died every time more that 3 lights were switched on, and the kitchen was simply unusable ( not to mention the bodged blocked drain where the rats would enter if removed). That was day 1. Day 2 Mr. Qiao told me that due to a change in the law he was unable to convert my tourist visa into a z visa and that I had 3 options. 1. return to England, 2. go to Hong Kong and attempt to obtain the Z visa there (having investigated on the internet I saw that this option was unlikely to work due to visa demands), 3. to get married to by partner as he already had his Z visa as the university he was to work for had organised everything in plenty of time.
Mr. Qiao treated me with no respect, he was rude and never listened to me.

I am writing this as I do not want other teachers to experience what I went through. I was really looking forward to teaching in China but the whole experience was a complete disaster and Mr. Qiao does not deserve to have a school if this is how he treats his teachers. I have worked abroad as an EFL teacher for many years and I have never encountered such an incompetent individual as Mr. Qiao.

My partner and I had no choice but to leave Lanzhou and our jobs. We have wasted so much time, effort and money!