That's an Associate Chinese professor's basic salary which I was offered at Ocean Uni
in Qingdao for a weekly teaching load of 12 hours per week! There are some extras for
publishing research work in academic peer journals, for exampl, and other smaller extras
for each student project supervised by a professor. I was told that this is only an
average, some unis pay much more for the same.

Yes, Universities will pay more, but I'd imagine most people who are starting out in ESL will not be ready/equipped to teach at that level.

More power to you for doing so; but comparing University wages to a starting ESL teachers wages is like comparing a regional manager to store manager. (Sorry, it's the best analogy I could come up with)

I'm also not aware of the living costs in Qingdao, but I'd imagine rural Sichuan is on the cheaper side; thus the lower bursary is justified.

Thanks for the info, how would you suggest one progresses from ESL to Uni Assoc. prof?