The US college I worked at received a few applications from Ghanian applicants coming from TIS each year. I had a favorable opinion of the quality of education they gave their students. I can't say anything about the quality of the working experience there.

I would put them together with other well-regarded and established schools in the country like SOS Hermann Gmeiner International College, Ghana International School and Lincoln Community School. TIS sends their college counselors to the Overseas Association of College Admission Counselors' conference in North America which is a pretty good sign in my mind.

I don't know much about Tema.

Good luck.

I visited both campuses a fews ago when I was doing international recruiting for a US college. It wouldn't be an organization that I would want to work for unless I was willing to put up with a lot of crap to break into international teaching. The kids I spoke to seemed nice, but they also were unhappy with the school.

Given the isolation of the Zeng Cheng campus and the underdevelopment of the area, I wouldn't think there is a lot for foreigners to do or for them to engage with locals. The nearest village was about 30 minutes away by taxi from the school. The school counselor did say a bunch of the young teachers would arrange water skiing at some nearby lake. But unless they have improved the roads from Guangzhou to Zeng Cheng, then it's a trek. If you were going to take a job Utahloy, I'd say the Guangzhou campus would at least provide an interesting city.

It's been some years since I was in China and I never lived in Beijing, but I've spent some time there. Running outside is best done (safe from traffic and having open space) in big parks and/or in villa neighborhoods if you're looking to get off tracks and the like at schools.

Depending on what you expect by outdoors, it can be a challenge to access from Beijing. On a day to day basis, the best you are going to find is large public parks in the city. (Nanjing is the only large Chinese city I've been to that seemed to incorporate large, somewhat natural parks within the city limits.) There has been an upsurge in young, wealthy Chinese looking to do hiking, rock climbing, and backpacking which means there are some companies catering towards their needs. So during your school breaks, or weekends you may be able to get outdoors. I wouldn't expect it to be as easy to access as what is available in Southeast Asia or say Ecuador. I had some good experiences hiking on sacred mountains (Tai Shan, E Mei Shan, Huang Shan, etc), but it's markedly different from hiking on the Appalachian Trail or in state/national parks I've done in Australia and in North America. I had friends go skiing in Northern Chinese trips too, but I don't recall where exactly they would go.

Air pollution remains a problem, so it can be hazardous if you have breathing problems. Admittedly, access to outdoors when I was in China was one of the toughest things about my time, but there were other things about my time that made up for it.

You might get some more valuable and more up to date information on outdoor opportunities on Lonely Planet's Long Haul or Northeast Asia page. Good luck making a final decision.