All foreign teachers are entitled to a round trip economy air ticket to and from their home country.
The school runs on a very tight budget and it is necessary for the school to save every cent possible on the air ticket so the school requests all the in-coming teachers to find the cheapest possible fare.
The teachers will be reimbursed for the ticket in two installments- one after their arrival in school and one before their departure.
The school will arrange travel for inland China if necessary.  Therefore, teachers will only need to arrange their travel either to Guangzhou or to Hong Kong.

PROCEDURE ON AIR TICKET PURCHASE
All teachers are requested to find and purchase their own ticket from the airlines or travel agents they know.
Once the teacher obtains a quotation from the airline or the travel agent, he/she should inform the school's Hong Kong office as soon as possible and get the approval of the price of the ticket. For teachers from west coast of North America, the school expects the price of air ticket (round trip ticket to Hong Kong or Guangzhou with one year validity) to be about USD 1000 and for East Coast or inland America, a few hundred dollars more.

The teachers are expected to travel as far as 200 miles on land to an airport on their own because the school knows that it can not afford the short haul domestic flights in North America which are very expensive.

TIPS TO GET CHEAP AIR_TICKETS
1) Tickets are cheaper if they are purchased well ahead of the time of travel.
2) Direct flights are more expensive than flights that have an intermediate stop.
3) Most Asian airlines offer much cheaper fare than the American or Canadian. In particular, Asiana and Korean Airline often have very good deals. 
4) For many trans-Pacific flights, low season begins September 1 or Labor Day. The school knows well that the teacher will arrive late (according to the employment) if he/she departs in early September. In order to save on the air-fare, the school will allow the teachers to be late to school and yet getting their full salary from September 1, while waiting at home for the trip.