[trevelyan]

State schools pay maybe 7000 RMB per month for 20 hours of classroom teaching per week. Private schools double that for nearly double the workload.

I'd guess most teachers are probably pulling 15k USD per year between their main job and a couple of tutoring or corporate gigs on the side. It's better money than sitting in the basement, but it helps to keep things in perspective: a minimum wage job in California makes close to 24k these days and you can drink the milk.