Regarding timetables, they said that I may have a different schedule every day. I wouldn't necessarily start at 8:15am, and I would sometimes have a weekday off depending on the schedule, just to name a couple examples.
Forgot to mention that I did ask for pictures. Accommodation seems clean and well-kept.
Utilities are covered by the school - forgot that also!
Good suggestions about taking pictures upon arrival and housekeeping provisions. I will clarify.
Not staying in the off-campus housing isn't mentioned in the contract in terms of an optional housing allowance; however, I would prefer to stay on-campus because of Shanghai's cost of living. Plus there are some things I wish to study for in my own time, so an academic environment would be conducive to that.
I did not ask about guests; it did not cross my mind actually.
It would seem that they are high school aged Calach, yet it is a vocational college.
I also forgot to mention in my initial post that there would be between 20-30 students per class.
Here are some things that concern me:
They will not provide me with the contact information of a current foreign teacher because it is not "normal" for them to do so. However, the other side of the coin is that you don't know if the current teacher is reliable and is just spinning things in a positive light to help the college out. When I taught in Korea, the teacher I emailed before coming over was not very forthcoming about the work environment as I later found out first-hand. I searched on LinkedIn and found two former teachers who taught there, so I tried messaging them on Facebook on 10/24, but neither of them have bothered to respond to me.
Originally, the job ad stated that the contract end date would be on December 31, 2016. Throughout out the interview and various email exchanges following the interview, I was under the impression that this was the case the entire time. However, they suddenly decided to change the end date to June 30, 2017 just a couple of days ago without telling me beforehand. I discovered it myself when reviewing the final contract they sent me. They say it is more convenient for their academic year if the contract expires at the end of the summer semester. Fortunately, I was able to negotiate this date to January 31, 2017 with the assistance of the recruiter.
As it stands right now, the college is preparing a new contract with the modified dates. Additionally, I've also asked them to include provisions saying that the school's financial department will handle taxes, and that overtime is always optional with the consent of both parties.
The Primer on Chinese Teaching Contracts post has been very helpful in evaluating this contract by the way.
Here are some additional notes: