I have a good friend who teaches English in China. And his story is pretty much the same as opie's. Reasonable salary and crazy low cost of living. He speaks Mandarin because it's his thing, but he says that most of the Americans who teach there don't.
Difference being of course that those poor fellows have to live among Chinese - I'm living among Thais so it is infinitely more pleasant. True, there is some halitosis, but it is very minimal compared to the land of the Mushroom Mouths, and of course politness and tone of voice is so much better here.
How's the air quality in Thailand? That's his biggest complaint about China.
