Best wishes. I'm from the UK, but have been working at a decent university in China for a number of years(my fourth uni job in China). I was recently asked to stay for another year so I will be here at least until July 2012. I'm fortunate in that I don't need the money which means I can be very choosy about where I work. This does give me an advantage in that I wll only work where the standards are high, student intake is good, environment is clean (and by the sea), and teaching colleagues are of a good standard too. Some of my Chinese colleagues in the languages department have a PhD but it doesn't always follow that they will be any good in the classroom when they do teach. It's also important that my empoyers listen when I suggest improvements as I've had substantial experience in education, training and management. I don't 'rub it in' , but they know from my CV what I can do. In practice this means I get a range of teaching assignments, as I would go nuts if all I did was teach oral English. I always help Chinese colleagues when they ask and I expect the same in return. It is after all supposed to be a team.

Age doesn't seem to be a significant problem in China, at least at my uni where they prefer more mature, well-qualified and experienced teachers. Problem might be that the term has already started in the UK and consequently the places to which you are applying have done their recruitment. To be honest, I think the better jobs are often filled by word of mouth and personal recommendation, but CELTA is well-known and respected.

Keep trying.

CL