Ah, now more of the story comes forth. I do wish you'd have told the entire story in your first posting.

You were indeed duped, and used, didn't know about all the advertising being printed up and used to promote the school using your face.

Still doesn't change the fact, at least in my mind, that you really should have seen this coming long before it went so far.

As for the salary you requested, though you may be worth that amount, I don't think it was so realistic unless the school in question was an International school, a real International school. In such schools you can make even more than 20,000. Those are few and far between though.

Bottom line is that, I personally don't think you're expectations were realistic. Idealistic, certainly, fair, likely, on par with what is reasonable to expect in the current market? Not at all. You can indeed hold out for what you feel or know you are worth, and then end up not working much, if at all. If idealism is that important to you, and you can afford it, then I say more power to you. Most people coming here to work need to work, and can't afford such.

Not saying you should have accepted lower, in fact in your case you may have made the right decision. However let's not cast everyone in the same light, or illogically compare one situation to another. Most people don't have the luxury of such idealism, and in truth can only negotiate so much when the current market and saturation of said market by expats is taken into account. A person may indeed be worth what they think, but will they get it? That's the real question, and the truth is, you can't always get what you want, or are worth. That's just the reality of life. Doesn't mean you shouldn't try, but effort should be tempered with reason, not stubborness, and certainly not with idealism if one can not afford it. Pride can be a good thing, or a bad one, in this case, maybe a bit of both.

What I'm trying to say is, in China people need to have a more realistic view of the market, and what it is and is not willing to pay. When you have a dying economy in the west, and expats travelling here in droves to work, I think it might not be wise to pridefully cling to what you ideally believe yourself to be worth if it is unrealistic when one considers the situation at hand.

Personally I think you asked for too much given the reality of the current market and saturation here in China, I won't address the idealism that Turnoi has, as "ideally" I agree with much of what he said. Sadly this is not an ideal world, nor a very fair one, hence we rarely get what we want, however we do more often get what we need.

What you wanted was not realistic by my thinking considering the type of school, and the current market. It's a shame but realistically that's the truth. Did the school lose out, probably. Will they care, almost certainly not. Will they lose business and make even less money then if they had employed you, because the person they hired has less experience and ability? Very likely. That's the other problem here, short term profit over long term gain, something very common in China. Chinese and most working here a long time tend to only see what is right in front of them, not the long term consequences of their actions.

I wish you luck in your future endeavors, but you might want to relax a little on what seem to be conditions that are set in granite. If you do you'll find work a lot easier, and will certainly get what you need. Also, once you have your foot in the door, and prove yourself, Chinese will pay much more to keep you on, they don't pay much attention to resumes. Just the way it is here. Good luck.