Anyone reading these reviews from outside China, please think very carefully before coming to China! I have been a teacher here for almost four years. Chinese students are most times, extremely polite and warm-hearted towards their foreign teachers. In the years I have lived in China, I have received such an outpouring of love from my students; and in return, I give them my very best as a teacher.

If only teaching and working in China were so simple! Unfortunately, after almost four years, and working for a number of schools. I can also tell you that China is basically a very terrible place to work. Every school leader (ha!) Ive had the displeasure of working for has been a greedy owner who charges the students (their parents) LOTS of money and gives them poor service (from lazy underpaid administrative staff) and bad learning environments (no heat, filthy bathrooms, etc.) in return.

Dont be fooled by the chronic excuse China is a developing country! These guys are making PLENTY of money off of foreign teachers, and giving us -- and the students -- as little as possible in return. While my college students are paying on average an extra 10,000-20,000RMB per year for the special English program, they are given large class size (40-60 students), no heat, etc. The students and I are shivering, while the boss is sitting in his heated office with his personal chauffeur waiting outside to fulfill his every need. Disgusting!

My present contract states that I work for a college, which is a division of a large, public university, but in truth, it is NOT a public college, but a completely PRIVATE business, owned by one man, who can do whatever he pleases. He knows nothing, nor cares, about education. He is a business man, pure and simple.

Ive had to fight to get a decent blackboard, and basic equipment for teaching. Everything is made difficult and drains me of energy that should go toward teaching.

I hate to leave my students, but Im fed up with being exploited; being lied to, and always having to double-check that the school is not engaging me in their unscrupulous practices. For example, they tried to arrange an illegal visa for me, but fortunately, I understand Chinese visa policies well, and was able to prove they were trying to place me in an illegal situation. All school leaders Ive encountered in my three-plus years here have all wrongly assumed that because I speak little Chinese that they can tell me anything and I will believe them. Theres no true respect given to experienced, well-trained foreign teachers here. We are seen only as a means to make more money from students and their parents. They care little or nothing about the students OR the teachers.

In the time I have been in China, Ive had to pay 100% of my medical costs. They give us freezing classrooms, but no financial help when we go to the hospital (usually because of the rotten school food or the complete lack of heat or air-conditioning). And dont be fooled if they tell you there is a school clinic to serve your needs. Hooey! After you arrive at the school and become ill, they will tell you that the school clinic is either not suitable for you, or they will charge you for ALL medications and services the same as if you went to a commercial hospital.

No school (in my experience) will give you ANYTHING without incessant demanding. We are forced to fight for everything that we assume would be provided easily and efficiently (like proper telephone or office internet service). We make this false assumption because usually the contracts say things like in a spirit of mutual cooperation blah, blah, blah Dont believe it! The cooperation they refer to is completely one-sided, i.e. Do whatever we tell you to do, and we will change the agreement on a weekly basis if that suits us, and you must obey

I urge people to be very careful before considering working in mainland China.

I cannot bear the lies, manipulation, and unnecessarily poor conditions any longer.