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https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/may/16/fake-lawyers-scientists-chefs-punters-white-monkeys-chinese-businesses-global>
"Piers had been in China for all of two days in 2009 when he was used as a
“white monkey” for the first time. He had travelled to a village in Suzhou,
Jiangsu province, to attend a friend’s wedding and had stopped in the village
to try a special crab dish at a small restaurant. Weeks later, a Chinese guest
who had been at the wedding told him the restaurant had had an uptick in
business because the locals had heard that a
laowai, a foreigner, had been
seen dining there, so people had assumed this restaurant must be good. Piers
realised the boss had deliberately seated him in a way to attract attention: “I
knew we were sitting outside in a premium spot, but I didn’t pick up on what
was going on.”
When foreigners in China are used this way, they are called a
baihouzi, a
white monkey. They’re hired to help Chinese businesses appear more desirable,
the foreigner association conveying prestige and a sense that your product is
universally regarded. The industry is unregulated in China, operating in a
legal grey area. White monkey positions are advertised on job boards and can
fall into different categories, from acting and modelling for Chinese films and
products to pretending to be the foreign CEO of a Chinese company to lend it
credibility. They might be seat warmers or go-go dancers in Chinese nightclubs
to draw in customers, or English teachers in language centres to make Chinese
parents feel their children are being taught by legitimate native English
speakers (even if a Chinese person is actually a better qualified teacher).
These businesses believe that having the “foreign look” will give them an edge
over other Chinese companies offering the same service. The phenomenon of
recruiting foreigners for this performative purpose can be traced to the
concept of
mianzi, having “face” in Chinese society, which denotes bestowing
and receiving respect for each other.
Even though the term white monkey might suggest only Caucasian foreigners, it
would be more accurate to say recruiters are simply looking for people who
appear “non-Chinese”. There are groups on the Chinese texting app WeChat with
job postings that specify “We need two black women to shoot an ad in Guangzhou”
or “Hangzhou business needs a Hispanic model”. The race requirements fluctuate
depending on the product, ranging from “White American for a blood pressure
monitor advert” to “Turkish speakers for a TikTok video”. This language would
never pass muster in a formal job ad, due to China’s strict equality
legislation, but these word of mouth-style requests are harder to police."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
