I taught Russian in two different places in China ( both were colleges). Overall, it was an extremely positive experience but there were also some problems of course. Talking only about China, I'd say public universities are a safer choice though the salary is lower than in a private school. But most students were very motivated and teaching was very rewarding. It was great to be respected and genuinely loved, I really miss that attitude at times! It was my first serious teaching job so I grew up professionally a lot. However, 2 years later it became boring as I felt stuck. My Chinese colleagues except one didn't really care about my teaching, nor was there any exchange between us.
To mention some difficulties, it was all this staring &yelling thing which was extremely annoying. But I suppose it's not the case in big cities. Also maybe absence or a very limited choice of some particular things in shops like cheese/ real milk. I really missed good bread. But I think it's getting better now unless you live in a really tiny place. I'd recommend to double check the living conditions (I always asked to send me photos of every room, especially bathroom/kitchen). Oh yes, and the heating! It was freezing in Hefei! And the last thing was the lousy Internet connection with some of the websites banned. I still remember March 2009 when they blocked YouTube. A major disaster for me at the time ;)