You write:
" I would be teaching ... Chinese students who instead of taking the test for placement in a Chinese university will instead be taking the SAT and ACT because they are planning on going to college in the US.
Those schools are known here as "foundation programs". Search for that phrase on the Saloon and you will find much comment including many people who say such programs are very much to be avoided. Personally, I have taught in a couple and had good experiences, but that does not seem to be a general pattern.
Nearly all the kids will be from rich families, or they couldn't pay those schools' high fees let alone study abroad. Some of the families will feel that as long as they pay the fees, their offspring should of course pass. You really need a director of studies with some backbone to deal with that. I suspect that one of the main reasons i had a good experience where others did not was that both places I worked had good guys in that role.
Most students will have taken and failed the gao kao (Chinese uni entrance exam), or at least got low enough scores that they could not get into a prestigious Chinese uni. That may not mean much; I think it is a fairly awful test. Some of the kids in those schools are a joy to teach, bright and willing to work. Of course, there is deadwood as well.
I've only passed through Hefei, landing at its airport and going elsewhere in the province, so I cannot tell you much. It is the capital of Anhui, an inland province so rather less prosperous than the coast. Much farming. Many of the construction laborers, waitresses, whores, etc. in Shanghai or other big coastal cities are from Anhui.
Hefei is developing furiously. There is at least one quite reputable university:
http://en.ustc.edu.cn/ and a number of hi-tech companies, notably Cisco, have been setting up there. Labour costs are low, and there's now high-speed rail to the export ports, Nanjing and Shanghai.
More info at:
http://wikitravel.org/en/HefeiThere's a Hefei expat sire which I explored some while back when a move to Hefei seemed possible. I did not find it particularly good, but not useless either.
http://www.hefeiexpat.com/forum/