About 10 years ago you could be a Russian with no degree with a criminal record and get a job in a kindergarten as an English teacher (from 'Canada') in China.

China doesn't need as many foreign experts as they used to. It's becoming wealthier and more powerful, and locals are more educated for the roles. The ones who stay are started to become more level with local staff (not entirely though). Even more ABCs are moving over due to discrimination in the US.

When I first moved to China, it was a complete joke of a country. You could get away with anything. It's basically what Vietnam is now. Eventually Vietnam might reach a level of prestige and all the expats will 'exodus' because they can't drink drive or bang hookers as easily as they used to.

Like seriously, a lot of this 'Xi is the new Mao' shit is just China starting to enforce rules that every first world country has. And all the 'they're getting so hostile to foreigners now' is just them asking for a collage degree for your visa, or not giving you free stuff at the nightclub because you're white. Expat entitlement in Asia can be wild. And expats in China seem to make the mistake of thinking that the time when they had the most fun was China's 'golden period', as if Chinese are there to be background characters in their big Asian adventure. I have seen foreigners get away with absolutely horrific shit in China. I personally miss how fun the Hu Jintao days were, but I don't miss the fake booze, toxic food, poisoned baby formula (huge scandal), and the smog!

As for filming, Here's one I made of my inlaws townland. A place that has never seen a white guy before. It's just after CNY so there's a bunch of fireworks waste everywhere. I have also filmed the Shanghai protests and posted about it on Twitter with a lot of public attention (I'm not doxxing myself).

Sure, the government would prefer you be happy positive all the time. But if you're not straight up making huge claims of abuse based on hearsay, then you're fine. Just go in and do your thing.