laotou has a good point.
Dealing with Chinese officials rule number 1.

If you can't get what you want, try asking a different question, or the same question differently.

e.g.
With my Chinese wife at the train station to make a journey. The ticket counter said there were not more seats on any train that day. Shock horror! We could not get home. Then I asked my wife to enquire about 'soft seats'. Yes they had soft seats on all trains that day.

Don't worry if they say 'Impossible'. 'Impossible' does not mean 'no'.
However, 'difficult' often does mean 'no'.

Hi Bill

A bit of confusion here because you used the term 'private schools'.

Now is perhaps a bad of year to be looking. Most of the public sector schools/colleges and private sector schools (not language training centres) are now thinking about recruiting for September. Because of the academic year most have contracted staff running until June.
You may need to consider working at training centres, at least until Sept.

Some of the universities and colleges also have 'spin offs' that may recruit on an ad-hoc basis. For the next semester (in two weeks). I have also recently come to Kunming and was lucky, as I am replacing a Chinese teacher who have been promoted to set up a new 'school' within the college, and even this is only part time.

Part-time is the other route. Working part-time is a good option. You can work for several employers at the same time. The rates of pay are higher, and you have the power to say 'no'. You also get to check out the culture in several institutions, before you decide for next year. The downside is that PT work won't get you a visa.

Hi Bill

I can't give you any answers, as I am new to Kunming. But one thing I would add, is that you find out about specific campuses as well. There is one well know school with about 30 campuses.

The culture in each campus can be different. I once worked for an international company (not a franchise) and the local director was openly hostile to foreign teachers. She even espoused her disdain. She said that we were all a waste of time and refused to process any 'Z' visa. She said that the company was not a visa service for expats.

In another place the admin/sales manager was a real piece of goods, who would raise customer expectations to overly high levels, just to get her commission. But when the teacher fails to deliver the unreal, who gets blamed?

In both the above cases, it was individuals at the campus level that were the problem

You can buy the same, or better, stuff in the regular markets. If you are buying leather goods, Yunnan produces some great leather goods that are of original design and high quality for much less.

In fact a lot of the fake brands are no longer available. The fake logos are similar but not the same. The the prices are still over the top.

Thanks Dan, your the man.