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What's in the News

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Calach Pfeffer

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #1365 on: July 02, 2010, 01:31:37 AM »
Chinese companies 'rent' white foreigners
By Lara Farrar, for CNN

Beijing, China (CNN) -- In China, white people can be rented.

For a day, a weekend, a week, up to even a month or two, Chinese companies are willing to pay high prices for fair-faced foreigners to join them as fake employees or business partners.

Some call it "White Guy Window Dressing." To others, it's known as the "White Guy in a Tie" events, "The Token White Guy Gig," or, simply, a "Face Job."

And it is, essentially, all about the age-old Chinese concept of face. To have a few foreigners hanging around means a company has prestige, money and the increasingly crucial connections -- real or not -- to businesses abroad.

"Face, we say in China, is more important than life itself," said Zhang Haihua, author of "Think Like Chinese." "Because Western countries are so developed, people think they are more well off, so people think that if a company can hire foreigners, it must have a lot of money and have very important connections overseas. So when they really want to impress someone, they may roll out a foreigner."

Or rent one.

Last year, Jonathan Zatkin, an American actor who lives in Beijing, posed as the vice president of an Italian jewelry company that had, allegedly, been in a partnership with a Chinese jewelry chain for a decade.

When is being foreign a career advantage?

Zatkin was paid 2,000 yuan (about $300) to fly, along with a couple of Russian models, to a small city in the central province of Henan where he delivered a speech for the grand opening ceremony of a jewelry store there.

"I was up on stage with the mayor of the town, and I made a speech about how wonderful it was to work with the company for 10 years and how we were so proud of all of the work they had done for us in China," Zatkin said. "They put up a big bandstand and the whole town was there and some other local muckety-mucks."

The requirements for these jobs are simple. 1. Be white. 2. Do not speak any Chinese, or really speak at all, unless asked. 3. Pretend like you just got off of an airplane yesterday.

Those who go for such gigs tend to be unemployed actors or models, part-time English teachers or other expats looking to earn a few extra bucks. Often they are jobs at a second- or third-tier city, where the presence of pale-faced foreigners is needed to impress local officials, secure a contract or simply to fulfill a claim of being international.

"Occasionally companies want a foreign face to go to meetings and conferences or to go to dinners and lunches and smile at the clients and shake people's hands," read an ad posted by a company called Rent A Laowai (Chinese for "foreigner") on the online classified site thebeijinger.com.

It continued: "There are job opportunities for girls who are pretty and for men who can look good in a suit."

Click here for in-depth news on China

People like Brad Smith. When Smith -- the nom de plume of the Beijing-based American actor -- answered CNN's phone call on a recent morning, he was standing outside a meeting room at a Ramada Inn in Hangzhou, a city about 100 miles outside of Shanghai. Today's job: Pretend to be an architect from New York and give design plans for a new museum to local officials.

"They have not told me what my name is today. I think it is Lawrence or something," said Smith -- unlike some jobs, no fake business cards were given to hand out.

Earlier that morning he went over his script with his Chinese "business partners" at a Kentucky Fried Chicken. "It says, 'Good morning distinguished leaders. It is my privilege to participate in this program'," said Smith, who asked that his real name not be used for fear it could jeopardize future jobs.

If Smith is asked a question, he is told to pretend to answer as his "translator" pretends to understand.

Occasionally, these jobs can go awry. Smith said 18 months ago Beijing police showed up at his apartment after a financial company he worked at for a couple of months in Xi'an, a city in western China, allegedly swindled millions of yuan out of clients.

"That company said I was the guy in charge," he said. "I didn't even remember the company's name. After that, I decided I was never going to use my passport again with these fake companies. The small gigs are much less dangerous." Sometimes companies will hire Caucasians simply to sit in the office a few hours a day near the window where clients and customers can see them.

White women are also a hot commodity, sometimes to pose as phony foreign girlfriends, or, in the case of Vicky Mohieddeen, to pretend to be an oil tycoon.

Mohieddeen, who is Scottish, took a job in 2008 to attend what she describes as some sort of "oil drilling conference" in Shandong province for 300 yuan ($44). Several busloads of foreigners, with nationalities ranging from Pakistani to Nigerian, were trucked to the event, she said. They were greeted by brass bands and feted with a sumptuous dinner.

"I was like, 'Yeah, we have a lot of oil in Scotland.' I didn't know what to say. It was a bit nerve-racking. We were guests of honor of the vice mayor. We were put in a nice hotel. It was quite fancy."

For Mohieddeen, who had just arrived in Beijing at the time, the experience, albeit bizarre, was an introduction to a side of China most foreigners will never see.

"It is part of what China is all about, you know," Mohieddeen said. "There is quite an elaborate fantasy world going on here where if everyone buys into it, it does not matter if it is the truth. Those kinds of experiences give me a fuller understanding of the way the culture works."
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Day Dreamer

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #1366 on: July 02, 2010, 01:38:27 AM »
I noticed you didn't post the going rate nor who to call. Could it be you are keeping it to yourself?

 uuuuuuuuuu
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Calach Pfeffer

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #1367 on: July 02, 2010, 02:39:39 AM »
O cointreau mon bro:

"Rent A Laowai."

Their website does seem to be no more, however.
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latefordinner

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #1368 on: July 02, 2010, 04:42:51 PM »
I'm sort of in on one of these . I say "sort of" because I actually am working on a real project too, but I get dragged out to these things quite frequently. Moreover, my being gone doesn't hurt the project much because my colleagues actually believe the company hype about my being a high-ranking manager from XXXX (not my home country). I simply dump responsibilities on underlings when I leave and then thank them for taking care of business when I get back.

My last trip included a day in Hongkong. Half the day was spent at a big meeting with all the muckitty-mucks, the other half the boss an I went shopping. She got herself a new leather bag,I got a pair of watches. (one for myself, the other for my wife) It can be a fun job at times.
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Day Dreamer

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #1369 on: July 02, 2010, 04:53:16 PM »
 ananananan


I want to be a "Rent A Laowai."
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Con ate dog

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #1370 on: July 02, 2010, 06:02:46 PM »
Meaning you aren't already?
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Escaped Lunatic

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #1371 on: July 02, 2010, 08:20:50 PM »
It all sounds so very cheap and degrading.  Where do I sign up?  ahahahahah
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George

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #1372 on: July 02, 2010, 09:18:32 PM »
 ahahahahah ahahahahah Been there, done that! See my pics of Quanzhou in the Saloon Photo Album.
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kitano

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #1373 on: July 02, 2010, 10:26:16 PM »
i modelled for an internet company

i wouldn't mind doing it again for a bit of extra cash if it was as easy as the last time (just 1 hour modelling and then they bought me dinner and beer...)
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latefordinner

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #1374 on: July 02, 2010, 10:37:36 PM »
I don't take my clothes off, though. Well maybe the tie. But nothing else. Not while the lights are on.
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xwarrior

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #1375 on: July 09, 2010, 10:34:06 PM »
... the bastards are still doing it

report from New Zealand today (9 July 2010)


Quote
Chinese seize tonnes of contaminated milk

 Chinese authorities have seized 38 tonnes of milk powder laced with a toxic additive that killed children and sparked a nationwide uproar in 2008, official media reported, underscoring the stubbornness of food safety failings.

Samples of milk powder found in northwest China's Gansu and Qinghai provinces had levels of the chemical melamine up to 500 times beyond the permitted limit, and suspected tainted powder has also turned up in the country's northeast, said the report from the Xinhua news agency on Friday.

The exposure of tainted milk products in a poor and remote parts of China's northwest has underscored the persistence of food safety problems that have alarmed consumers and sparked criminal scandals that led to executions and official sackings.

Two years ago, at least six children died and nearly 300,000 children fell ill from drinking powdered milk laced with melamine, an industrial compound added to fool inspectors by giving misleadingly high results in protein tests.

Faced with outrage from consumers and anguished parents and an international outcry, Beijing blamed officials in north China's Hebei province for covering up the problem dairy products, sold mainly by Hebei's now bankrupt Sanlu Group, which was partly owned by New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra.

China executed two people last November for their role in the scandal.

The Xinhua report did not mention any deaths or illnesses blamed on the latest batches of toxic dairy products.

``The authorities have demanded strict investigations and punishment and the preventing of any problem milk powder entering the market,'' it said.

Police traced tainted milk powder discovered in Gansu province to a dairy factory in neighbouring Qinghai province. The company had bought the powder from elsewhere and kept it in a village near the factory. Officials seized 38 tonnes of ``problem milk powder,'' said Xinhua.

``Tests showed levels of melamine 500 times above the accepted level,'' said the report.

Traders had bought the tainted milk from Hebei province, possibly buying up batches supposed to have been destroyed after the 2008 scandal, said Xinhua.

Melamine can cause kidney stones, and is used to make plastics, fertilisers and concrete. Its high nitrogen content allows protein levels to appear higher when added to milk or animal feed, allowing traders to disguise substandard products. /quote]

Last updated 13:17 09/07/2010
« Last Edit: July 09, 2010, 10:42:52 PM by xwarrior »
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Calach Pfeffer

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #1376 on: July 11, 2010, 01:14:32 AM »
Disney to Expand English Language Training Schools in China
by Simon H. Cohen Jul 7th, 2010 Business.

The Walt Disney Company announced that it is going ahead with plans to expand their English language training programs in China. The company which currently operates 11 schools throughout the country hopes to open 140 more over the next five years.

Russell Hampton, the president of Disney Publishing Worldwide said that the language schools are part of a broader initiative to expand the company’s presence in one of the world’s most rapidly growing economies, a plan that will also include the opening of the first Disney theme park in mainland China. He estimates that by 2015 the program will generate over $100 million in revenue while teaching English to 150,000 students.

However, he also recognized that the nature of the schools present a unique opportunity to help the company gain exposure with Chinese consumers. In a recent interview he was quoted as saying that, “We wouldn’t enter this business just to use it as a marketing tool…But there’s no doubt that a side benefit is broader exposure (for) the rich heritage of Disney story-telling.”

In the past Disney’s presence in China has been severely curtailed by government media controls and quotas. The release of foreign films is currently capped at a maximum of 20 per year, and many seemingly innocuous Disney movies have been banned in the past for violating censorship laws. Disney officials said that many of the company’s trademark characters like Mickey Mouse and the Little Mermaid would be utilized as teaching aids in their English schools, giving them an opportunity to introduce them to the Chinese public.
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A-Train

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #1377 on: July 11, 2010, 01:53:18 AM »
Quote from: Calach Pfeffer on July 11, 2010, 01:14:32 AM
Disney officials said that many of the company’s trademark characters like Mickey Mouse and the Little Mermaid would be utilized as teaching aids in their English schools, giving them an opportunity to introduce them to the Chinese public.[/i]

Talk about life imitating art...  I think Disney got the idea from the Simpson's episode where the school closes down and re-opens as a secrect marketing institute for children's toys.  Producing "Funzo".  Except this is scary instead of funny.
http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/Grift_of_the_Magi
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Con ate dog

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #1378 on: July 12, 2010, 08:59:01 PM »
Disney English.  I'm hearing Donald Duck's voise reciting "She sells seashells".
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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #1379 on: July 12, 2010, 10:36:12 PM »
Disney English?  What #@*&ing kind of Mickey Mouse operation is that?
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