Yep, my friend cool ice has pretty much said it all. One of the problems for non native English speakers, or non white folks, is that it's very difficult to get a job in the main centres like Beijing or Shanghai, or Guangzhou for that matter! White faces sell here and although it's not a nice situation, it's one that we all haveta live with whether we like it or not!
As cool said, just check out the job board here for what's on offer and find one that you may like. They'll ask for a photo though and you'll quite possibly be refused for your looks rather than for your ability, again, sadly!
It may be a good idea, for you, to look out of the main centres and in the provinces, the smaller places that pay less and have less facilities because they're usually the places that aren't as "fussy" about the appearance, ethnically, of their ESL teacher. The main centres have the first choice usually because most ESL teachers want to live in those places...more excitement, bars and palatable food etc not to mention, usually better pay as well. I live and work in Guangzhou, and I have to say that I've never seen a non white ESL teacher here, which is sad, but is an indictment on the economics of the industry, white faces sell places in schools, a simple but true fact! Everybody is equal in China unless you're not white or Chinese and even then, there are prejudices. My Chinese girlfriend can't stand the non white teachers here. She says that their English isn't native so they can't teach the nuances of the language or the correct usages of idioms and slang etc. She's about as racist as they come over here. I try to tell her that they're all people but she won't have any of it, so I leave the subject alone for the sake of domestic harmony, but she does reflect the opinion of a large percentage of the population who want to learn English.
Apply, try and be prepared for disappointment but never ever let this dissuade you from achieving your goal!
Good luck and let us know how you're doing!
My few cents, or dollars worth so nuff said!
