I've lived in China, even did a bit of English teaching on the side from time to time. My experience was that the bar for English teachers was very low, people with no skills other than speaking english as a first language could move there and have a comfortable life.<p>The chinese government perceives this import of low skilled workers as a problem. Working illegally (on a non valid visa) in china is quite common as an expat, but it was pretty much the only industry I saw that deportation was strongly enfoced.<p>Reading between the lines, this doesn't strike me as a story of pushing yourself to achieve your goals, but instead one about a person who lacked focus, moved to china and settled into the easy ex-pat lifestyle of teaching english. I would be hesitent to take any advice he gives.