Foreigners have the unique opportunity in China of getting some pretty wacky one-off gigs. Charlie and Dan grill Chengdu Living’s resident white monkey Eli Sweet on the benefits and pitfalls of this kind of work, his own experiences, and why these jobs exist in the first place.

Find links below to download or stream this 51-minute long podcast.

Topics discussed:

1:00 – What is white monkey work?

2:20 – Our experience in white monkey work

4:00 – White monkey work & China’s real estate boom

5:00 – Eli being the white monkey “inside the glass box”

10:30 – How to get white monkey jobs

12:40 – How well white monkey jobs pay

15:30 – White monkey job pro-tips

20:30 – Foreign agents for white monkey gigs & Tenzin

23:15 – Booms & busts within the white monkey economy

28:00 – Our craziest white monkey gigs

37:00 – How to negotiate wages

38:50 – Eli’s experience being Captain Morgan

45:00 – The present and future of white monkey gigs

46:20 – Closing thoughts & recommendations

48:00 – Why we should be grateful for white monkey gigs

Songs features in this podcast:

Download & Stream Links

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If you enjoy the podcast, please share it! We look forward to recording more of these and continuing to chronicle and share the story of life in Chengdu.

A Question For You:

Have you ever done any white monkey work? If so, what was your experience? We would love to hear what you think about your experiences or this podcast in the comments below.