Demba Ba is urging John Terry to "get on the next plane" to China if he leaves Chelsea at the end of his contract this summer.
Terry's current deal at Stamford Bridge expires in June and while the Chelsea captain remains "very hopeful" of agreeing a one-year extension, there have been no further talks since the Blues informed the 35-year-old in January that no new contract offer was forthcoming.
Frank Lampard has already expressed his interest in bringing Terry to New York City FC in MLS while Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola wants to sign him for Qatari club Al Arabi, but former Blues striker Ba -- who left Turkish giants Besiktas for Shanghai Shenhua last summer -- believes China is Terry's best option.
"I've had lots of calls from players as maybe they've had interest from China or are curious because of the crazy money being paid out here," Ba told The Sun.
"My advice depends on who calls. If Eden Hazard was to ring, I'd tell him not to be silly and stay where he is. But if John contacts me, I'd tell him, 'Get on the next plane over here... what are you waiting for?'
"Look, John is still a top player that can perform in any of Europe's top leagues so he doesn't need to come here. But at the age of 35, he has nothing to prove to anybody anymore and if he can get one last huge contract here, it would be more than welcome to him I think.
"And it would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience to live in a completely different culture."
Terry has established himself as one of the greatest defenders of the Premier League era during an 18-year professional career at Stamford Bridge, but Ba believes his former captain would offer Chinese football more than simply his quality on the pitch.
"John is going to teach the kids where he plays, and the team where he plays, what football is all about," Ba added. "They will all look up to him and they will learn from him. Not only the guys playing in his team but the whole league.
"Once you play against him and see him on TV and see how he reads the game, you learn from this."