China Summer Programs are designed for people seeking short-term
International Culture Exchange and Language Immersion and TEFL
Internships. Individuals that cannot make a long-term teaching
commitment who want to experience China in the comfort and safety of
a well organized program prefer journeyeast.org for the value
provided.
It takes 30 days to apply for a work visa in order to get paid a regular salary. Therefore, 99% of the people travelling to China for summer camp programs are not allowed to get paid by law. They simply do not have the proper visa and almost no school will suffer the pain of processing the paperwork needed for such a short term stay. (it is very expensive and cost prohibitive)
You need to be wary of schools offering salary during the summer and offering only tourist or business visas. Many a person has been asked to leave the country and banned for re-entry for working illegally.
Most legitimate summer programs offer touring and meals included as a stipend for your volunteer work. The main difference between most summer programs is the quality of the food, tours, and lodging provided.
We're assuming that you are not walking to China. So, yes, for most summer programs worth doing there is a cost. Pay attention to the value of the program, not the cost, then compare with other programs. You will not find another program with the same value. If you want to go to China without the provided tours, of course it is cheaper, but then, what is the point of going to China to work during the hot summer without the fabulous tours!?
The best value in this category is www.journeyeast.org
Unless you are already in China working and teaching on a working z-visa it is not legal for you to receive a salary.
There are teachers who are in China on a work visa who do get paid for the summer, but the process of obtaining legal tax status (z work visa) is long and complicated. Also these teachers won't be getting tours as you will.
Different organizations market these programs in different ways.
Due to the high cost of airfare and availability of seats, if you
are not already a teacher living in China, you will not find gainful
salary in any program and chances are very good that tours of
Shanghai or Beijing are not provided.