There are two sides for each coin - most FTs come there not to change a regime but to earn their living. You probably do so as well.

The other side of the coin is that there is racial discrimination by private, mostly crappy Chinese employers - I know of some concrete cases where black native speakers from the UK and the USA, though well qualified and experienced, and holders of either a UK or a US passport were rejected merely on grounds of their colour. Not a government matter at all but a private crappy employer matter. I have some Chinese friends, common folks working in a small restaurant, who told me "black people are ugly and dirty". It seems to be a widely held belief and attitude among Chinese people and attests to the daily, latent racism in this country. In this respect, China does not differ much from Western nations with the same problem in their respective societies.

I wouldn't doubt what you say; however, I have worked with black teachers in China who were well treated and well respected , working alongside their white colleagues; therefore, whilst believing your experiences, I have to say it isn't all bad. What I object to is the numerous posts I've seen written by non-white FT's(mainly Asian)-terribly written posts-bad English-bad attitude- complaining about this or that company; and the response that usually follows from seasoned posters is one of whole-hearted support and total belief that they have been given the absolute truth about the behaviour of the evil school. I don't believe that every complaining poster who gives it the 'blue-eyed gets better treatment bit' should be given unquestioned support....It could be that some of them are just trouble-making losers, as are some white blue-eyed FT's. Having said all that, I still believe, that most FT's should not be clouding their minds with all this negative stuff; it will make your stay in China a most unhappy one. Think positive and smile at the Chinese. wo shuo de you mei you dao li ne? Pimsleur is quite good, don't you think? Cheers&beers.