Being a foreigner in China, regardless of your country origin, is sometimes the best thing that ever happened to you – that is why China is becoming a very attractive place for those who want to earn money.

If you are a professional in any kind of field, it is relatively easy to get a job here. If you are a qualified English teacher you can get a very high salary (though it is getting harder with new visa rules constantly being issued). In many cases, if you came here to study, you still can earn a lot of money.

As sad as it sounds most of these jobs still prefer white foreigners over others – this kind of racism is a fact of life.

Black people often encounter racism in China, Asians complain they are not “foreign” enough for China, but what about being white?

How easy can it get, when you are white in China?

The blessed few can get paid to go to bars and clubs, play with kids, and even offered chances to be in a movie with Jackie Chan.

Using a “regular” white girl’s life as an example, we are going to show you the limits, or rather the absence of limits, of how easy it is like to be a white foreigner in China.

Daniela was an ordinary girl back at home, not pretty enough to be Miss Italy, but nobody could call her ugly. Everything changed when she came to China. Her self confidence has become as high as the Empire State building, everybody is telling her “皮肤那么白，你那么漂亮” (your skin is so white, you are so pretty), people are taking pictures with her, and asking if she wants to star in movies as an extra (to make the background look more foreign).

In the five years that she has lived in in China she has been on numerous commercials and TV shows, and she was an extra in a film with Jackie Chan and Shu Qi, despite not having acting experience.

“Isn’t not that I was looking for job, I didn’t even know these jobs existed, I was just walking in my campus and people just came and ask me if I wanna be in the movie, and of course I sad yes. I was just tempted by 800 RMB (half of my scholarship) that I could earn in a few hours, I didn”t even think Jackie Chan might be there.”

You might think that since she is not from an English speaking country, she could not get an English teacher job, but nothing is impossible in China. The heavy European accent did not stop her from earning 200 RMB for just an hour of playing with kids.

“I thought I had to pretend I am American in order to get this job, but being European was enough, Chinese just assume that Europe is one big country that speaks just one language, and its English.”

Regardless of experience or skills, there are jobs that hire you just because you are white. Being a model in China is very different to being a model in other countries – you don’t even need to be model-tall or model-skinny, you just have to be an attractive white girl. Never been on the catwalk in your life? Easy, they will teach you. Never had a photo shoot or portfolio? Easy, they will make one for you. Voila, you are a model in China.

China’s entertainment industry is a treasure chest for foreigners like Daniela. There are even jobs that do not exist in other countries. These include being a party girl or a girl for the “model table”; these jobs do not require you to be Victoria Secret model hot – just attractive enough for Chinese to think you are pretty.

“It is one of the easier jobs I have ever done, if I wanna go to a fancy club in Beijing I can even get paid for that. Partying with other pretty people, getting free drinks and sitting in the VIP table, oh I can do that?!When I tell people I work in the club they assume I am a go go dancer or a an escort, but I am not, believe me these girls earn even more.”

Stories like Daniela’s aren’t rare – there are plenty of other students in Beijing who study by day and get paid to party by night, while working as teachers on the weekends.

“I know it’s racist to say that its easy to be white in China, but it is true. I have tried so many jobs without any experience and their requirement is just to be white. For instance, I am not a model material back at home, but China makes me feel like a movie star.”

Image courtesy of Nargiz Koshoibekova