I second the 'don't listen to a word Turnoi says' !!

Turnoi claims to know everything about every private school or TC in the world, but in reality has never had personal experience of one! Ignore his blustering, just because he speaks a language fluently doesn't mean his opinions on ESL teaching are valid! He has only a limited window in to ESL, the rest of what he says is fantasy.

Everything Curtis said is true; As a qualified teacher myself, I lasted two years teaching in China as the constant stream of under-qualified tourist-teachers who cared as little for their students as the school owners did soon took it's toll on me and I returned to Europe to continue teaching.

Working at a TC means normal hours, not part time hours at a university. I say normal hours as some posters here seem to forget that 25 teaching hours a week is a normal workload for teachers in state schools in the UK, US and other English speaking western countries. Only unlike those countries, in China you will usually be given free accommodation. Obviously this might not be up to western standards, but then you are no longer in the west! You do have to be willing to make some concessions! If you're not willing to step up for and be responsible for your students' education, don't go! You're there to work, you're not on holiday!

Don't accept less than 10,000 per month. In most cases you'll get that simply for being a native speaker... I got considerably more as I'm qualified to teach in the UK. Don't be afraid to haggle, it's expected in China!

It's worth noting that it is true a TC is only as good as the DoS in place. If a DoS is good and cares about their teachers and students, it will be a nice place to work. I was lucky enough to have a great DoS at one school I worked at in Liaoning, not so lucky after he left the school!

Long story short, don't expect western standards, don't expect western organisation and do your best for your students.