IMAGINE being paid a fortune just to stand around at parties and look interesting.

David Borenstein has done just that, having managed to make a career out of being a "white person for hire" in China.

6 David managed to make a career out of being a white person for hire Credit: news.com.au

The bizarre trend sees Chinese hosts splash out on hiring white people just to stand around at their events and look exotic, in order to impress the real guests.

At one gig, white-person-for-hire David told how he was paid to pretend he was a member of a world-famous band, despite none of his fellow "musicians" knowing anything about making music.

Other events see wealthy Chinese hosts fork out to hire white guests dressed in suits or the uniforms of Beefeater soldiers, with the human decorations staring wordlessly into the distance.

6 Americans and Brits can be paid big bucks just to dress up and attend a stranger's party Credit: news.com.au

Reports have claimed that hired foreigners can earn as much as $100 (£80) per hour just by standing wordlessly at someone else's event.

David, who used to live in Chongqing, in south west China, said: "It was absurd.

"They didn’t care if we had any skills or talent. We used to call them ‘white monkey’ gigs.

“The feeling of being ogled at must have been like the early days when you could go to the zoo or a World Fair and see an African tribesman or an Eskimo next to an igloo.”

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For several years from 2012, David was employed in this bizarre foreigner-for-hire industry, where white, non-Chinese people could earn their keep by adding a dash of overseas glamour to events, simply by turning up.

Most times, they didn't even have to say anything - just looking foreign was enough to satisfy their employers.

6 At one gig, David had to pretend he was a world-famous musician Credit: news.com.au

David is turning his unusual story into a documentary, Dream Empire, which follows his experiences as a white person for hire.

He told news.com.au: "If you talk to foreigners living in China, pretty much everyone was accosted on the street or in bars.

"A lot of people were doing it and you could make your monthly rent in one gig.

“White people for hire was precisely what it was.”

6 White people are supposedly exotic and rare enough to impress Chinese party guests Credit: news.com.au

The foreigner-for-hire industry is not just lucrative for the hired guests, with agents also looking to take a cut of the profits by matching exotic white people with Chinese hosts in need of western company.

Yana Yang worked as an agent in the surreal industry, and hoped to buy her parents a house with all the money she was making.

The 24-year-old would scour the streets and bars of Chongqing to look for attractive foreigners who were willing to be hired out as party guests or bystanders at government events.

6 Chinese hosts associated western guests with wealth and style Credit: news.com.au

For American-born David, who was studying in China at the time, the offer was too good to turn down.

He said: "Someone just comes up to you and what they’re looking for is a foreign face and a little nugget of talent.

“They will take your photo and days later there are ads on the Chinese internet saying you were a world famous dancer or singer.”

Because he played a bit of clarinet at university, the agency had him play the part of David "Borenzi”, a clarinet maestro with the “famous American band, The Travelers”.

Of course, the band was completely made up, and David only met his fellow performers a moment before they made their headline appearance together.

6 Some hosts will pay good money to have some western glamour at their events Credit: news.com.au

These gigs were held away from China's established cities, in the brand-new, empty metropolises which were springing up all over the country.

Many events were organised by government officials, who wanted to use David's western appeal to help sell apartments.

But in 2014, the Chinese property market collapsed, and the money dried up.

So too did the appeal of western party guests, and the bizarre industry became less lucrative for hired-westerners like David.