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.