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[Tadam]

Hello all,
I was wondering if anyone works,worked, or has any information on these schools listed in the subject line.

GTCFLA = Guangdong Teachers College of Foreign Language and Arts.

[AussieGuyInChina]

By private vehicle (e.g. the college's bus) traveling on the tollway, downtown Guangzhou can be reached in 1 hour from Peizheng. By public transport the journey takes 2 to 2/12 hours.

30 minutes to Huadu, which is a good-sized satellite suburb of Guangzhou that has foreign 'staples such as McDonalds, KFC, a pizza restaurant, etc.

Chini is 5 minutes away by motorcycle taxi (3 RMB fare) where there is a fresh food market.

The small village outside the college gates includes 2 DVD stores, a half-decent supermarket, stationers, mobile phone shop and many, many restaurants. There are also 2 - 3 bars, one of which is patronized by foreign teachers most weekends.

On-campus apartments are small but quiet. Off-campus apartments are big but noisy. Soil and rock-carrying trucks roar up and down Peizheng Avenue 24 / 7.

The 2 Hong Kong English TV channels are available free of charge. A cable TV service which includes HBO, AXN, Discovery Channel and BBC is also available for a cost of around 40 RMB per month.

The college's free internet is very slow between 8:00 am and 11:00 pm; many teachers arrange their own ADSL service with China Telecom for 150 RMB per month.

Working with 60 to 70 other foreign teachers has pluses and minuses - good potential for social activities / need to be cautious of "office politics".

Pay is always on time. In addition to the standard 1 month paid holiday in February, 1 week in May and 1 week in October, Peizheng teachers also get 2 weeks at Christmas. There is also 2 days (a 4 day weekend) in November.

Stand firm for 7,000 RMB per month (+ 1,000 tax free living allowance); more if you have a masters or PhD. They may initially offer less but they will cave.

Peizheng pays all visa / medical exam costs. You can join them on an 'L' tourist visa; they have the ability to convert to a 'Z' visa after you have arrived in China.

The college (the company that owns the college) owns several apartments in Hong Kong (4 hour bus ride from Huadu) and each F.T. is entitled to an aggregate of two weeks free accommodation in Hong Kong per year.

Students are generally well-behaved, albeit they can be lazy and lack motivation. The students at Peizheng failed the college entrance exam which would have otherwise allowed them far less expensive entry into a government college or university.

[Tadam]

Wow, that was way more than I expected and I thank you for that. My husband and I are trying to figure out if we are going to stay in Hong Kong or go to Southern China (he travels there a lot for work, so it's no big deal to him).