Pros and Cons, I had a good experience

Note: This wall all pre-2020
I had a good time in PZ - most of that because the students are amazing people.

Pros: Good schedule, the program is well organized, the students are great, housing is nice (but as other says - somewhat falling apart, maybe this has changed now), free HK apartment, salary is comparatively good (especially in this cheap area), new subway means easy access to the airport, teachers shuttles and busses are convenient for getting in and out of Guangzhou, can make some good foreign friends and contacts in the compound. Mostly people only work a 4 day week, English directors who do a lot in the background to make life easier for teachers and soften the potential communication barrier, lots of English volunteer students who are WONDERFUL to chat to and also will help with anything you may need if asked (like if you need help registering something, using an app, going to the doctor, whatever), many social events going on on campus, easy access to sporting facilities, a mini town of restaurants and cafes right across from the campus (surprisingly a lot of options for this rural location), run by locals and ex-students.

Cons: Management (as in - the people above the program directors) can be frustrating to deal with at times - as what's best for education may not be best for business (this is really an ESL con though), standards are a little low so don’t expect to really push students too much, the compound can feel a bit claustrophobic as you are forced to live with all your colleagues and everyone sees each other coming and going, there are guards stationed at the entrance of the apartments and you need permission to have guests over (this is their way of enforcing the gov rule of registering guests at the local police station I believe, but I don't think any adult wont see this is a con, regardless of the justification for it), its a long trip into the city and back if you use public transport, classrooms have chalk and chalkboards (no proper desks, no aircon, no tech), the HK apartment is more like a shared dorm (shared space with 6 beds - don’t expect a private getaway unless you're lucky and no one else books at the same time), Guangzhou gets H-O-T.

Things people may want to know:

*What others have said about PZ making it impossible to transfer to another job is unfortunately true, and I hope they've finally fixed this. I tried to reason and talk with them for a long time and get them to understand that if they don’t cooperate with the next school my documents will expire and it could take months to get a new CBC, which would get in the way of doing a visa run (which itself shouldn’t be necessary if they cooperated) and would be costly. They knew all this (and have years of experience with many foreigners having the same problem) yet still let my documents expire and did not cooperate with my next university. You may not think its a big issue now as you start the job - but PZ has messed with many teachers this way and continues to do it semester after semester. If you want to get in and out and not continue in a different area of China after working here - or will leave the country and don’t mind starting the visa process over, then it’s not a major concern. If you might want to transfer later then....be careful and find out what the current situation is. When I was there, they made a poor LAST impression with teachers, yet things were quite good from beginning up until it came time to sort out the transfer process when leaving - if they make it easier for teachers these days, then I recommend the place no problem.

*At the beginning of the second semester each year there is/was an outbreak of norovirus - some people get sick and they put the college on lock down, which means no using any of the restaurants out front for about a month.

*There is/was a period in the contract where there is delayed pay for 2 or 3 months (and that ends with a double pay day)..some people were upset at the system leaving them without a pay day for that long (although you get all money owed to you in the end). Although, it's no secret that this is going to happen - it's not exactly hidden info. But be mindful of not blowing all your money before this comes.

And as much as I loved the students they are low in motivation and don’t respond well to being challenged (although there are always exceptions that make the job worthwhile - and those exceptions at PZ will blow your mind - there are some very cool kids here) - and the college isn’t (wasn't?) interested in really implementing needed changes and improving education or backing up teachers who want to do extra. Some teachers have had unruly classes that behave more like public school kids - I didn’t get much of this myself but I would say that classroom management skills are needed (i.e. on a related note: for the good of the students I hope people don't come over and just to have a holiday anyway - bring some teaching skills along!).

* I don't know the situation post covid in this college, but I have good memories of the place and after being away for almost 2 years, my feeling is that I would do another stint here if I wanted to go back to GZ for whatever reason - I guess that means its recommended. I just hope they've sorted out that visa transfer issue for exiting teachers!