Can you think of any example where a player was sold to an obscure league for being not good enough and later picked up by a top tier team? Seriously can't think of any.
While not an obscure league in the sense of China, Jon Dahl Tomasson was a flop at Newcastle before going to Feyenoord and then Milan.
Different circumstances but Beckham when he moved to LA Galaxy he probably wasn't anticipating going on to play (admittedly on loan) at PSG and Milan.