My Experience as a Professional Westerner

Recently a mini-documentary called Rent-a-Foreigner was published by The New York Times, which shows typical foreigners living in China attending a promotional event in order to spur sales for a high-end housing development in Chongqing. 

I had known about the value a foreign person had outside their own country since my first time abroad, and had especially understood the power that a white American male could have.  You are can be treated as a guest of honor in homes and an expert in anything subject which comes up in conversation.  Foreign English teachers make several times more than what a local English teacher would make, despite often holding no training on educational methods.  It doesn’t matter; it is only the face that matters. 

It was shortly after the making of this documentary, about two months ago, that I accepted a couple of offers to actually be a “Rent-a-Foreigner.”  Here is my story. 

Jilin City, Jilin Province, China

Pimp hotel room to sleep in ... alone :(

I first met “Karl” at a job fair for foreigners in Shanghai.  He was sitting with a colleague, but no one was visiting his booth.  Most other booths offered positions at schools, multinational companies or were advertising degrees abroad.  I saw a picture of a wind turbine and novella-sized description on a banner by the booth, and sat down to speak with him.  Karl’s English was limited, so he was comfortable when I spoke Chinese to him. 

Karl told me that he was looking for people to help give product introductions.  I am interested in renewable energy technology, so I gave him my contact information.  We exchanged a few emails, and met several weeks later at a coffee shop.  Karl told me the plan:

“We will go to Jilin province and you will give a small presentation to demonstrate the technology.”

He handed me a few sheets of paper with powerpoint slides on them.  They were the most basic slides imaginable, just a few sentences at most about the company, a German firm. 

“We will leave at night, then have two meetings during the day, then return the next day.  We will pay for your meals, hotel and travel, as well as give you a salary.  We can pay double your current salary.” 

I told him my salary was 200 RMB per hour.  After a bit of negotiation, we settled on 4,500 RMB (about $725).  He gave me 1,000 RMB up front, smiling and saying “now we have a deal.” 

A few days later we met at the airport and took a flight to Jilin, a province in the north.  It was still cold there.  Another colleague joined, then a network of dealers.  We ate dinner and Karl explained that I was a marketing director from the company here on business to help sell the product.  They poured me baijiu (白酒- literally white alcohol, but in effect a very strong rice liquor), put interesting food on my plate, and then proceeded to talk business in Chinese.  Karl had specifically instructed me not to let on that I speak Chinese.

It occurred to me that the guanxi (关系 – the relationship culture in China) culture is quite involved.  I always imagined it being just two people having a “you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours” sort of relationship, but it involves multiple people, many drinks and cigarettes and lots of agreement. 

We checked into a five-star hotel.  Chinese style, it had a large, open lobby and one of those giant revolving doors with fake flowers inside, and the room was quite modern. 

The next day we went to meetings at a Chinese power company.  I introduced the company in English to a group of Chinese engineers and Karl translated.  The product we introduced was said to improve efficiency in turbines.  They seemed satisfied.  In the afternoon we went to a different branch of the same company and did the same thing.  Karl was happy.  On the way to the airport he passed me an envelope containing the remainder of the payment. 

The flight back.  It was cancelled and rescheduled for the morning.

Since then I have taken another job as a “Rent-a-Foreigner.”  I visited Nanchang to give a presentation on a landscape design for a hotel.  The routine seems strikingly similar.  Small deposit up front and the rest later either in cash or direct deposit.  Meals, travel expenses and five-star hotel lodging paid for (I believe they stay in the nice spots because they are in sales, and need to project a quality image).  Giving a powerpoint presentation while someone else translates.  Lots of sitting and eating and pretending not to speak Chinese while business is discussed.  Though I haven’t been asked to dress up in traditional garb, I wouldn’t be above it.  If the price is right^^

Yet as I sat there going through the motions, a curiosity tugged at my mind: do the customers know that I am just window dressing?  And if so, do they care?