Welmer

China in the late ’90s was in the early process of opening itself up to the rest of the world. Decades of isolationist policy were just starting to give way to engagement with the world — economically, politically and culturally. In this climate, more and more outsiders - known as laowai to Chinese - were flocking in from all parts of the world. Many were businessmen, some worked for foreign governments and there were plenty of young students and adventurers as well.

Getting a job as a foreigner in China was easy; there were opportunities in a number of businesses. Young English speakers often got teaching or writing jobs while young people from continental Europe found work easy to come by in the hospitality industry. Most white middle-aged men, whether North American, Australian or European, worked in business, and had very limited knowledge of the Chinese language and culture. They were valued for their technical or organizational expertise. Russians were in a class of their own, most being traders, government workers or prostitutes. Africans, who usually entered China on student visas or through diplomatic channels, were frequently involved in criminal ventures.

Most foreigners were men. Some American and European women worked in hotels or at clubs and some were students, but they were few in number, so naturally most foreign men dated local women. The Chinese women who dated foreigners were of a couple different classes. There were the straight-up hookers, who swarmed hotel bars like wasps, scanning customers with calculating eyes, wearing tight, dark clothing and heavy makeup. And then there were the visa-hounds, as they were called by US marines guarding the embassy. These were a ubiquitous breed in any locale where laowai were to be found, latching onto American and European men in hopes of a better life abroad.

Because there were so many of these women, white men in China got used to behaving like pigs. The old China hands were as bad as the fresh new arrivals, but they carried with them a cynicism about the state of affairs, indulging in the dissipated lifestyle almost as a hopeless old alcoholic sips from his glass of liquor, knowing it to be poison but needing it all the same. The young men, bursting with desire and intoxicated by the countless willing young women, plunged into their beckoning arms with without restraint. Many of these young fools rapidly fell in love, but over time they, too, gained the jaundiced eye of the old-timers.

There were certain cliques of young diplomats’ and businessmens’ adult children who congregated together at European-themed cafes, partying every night at clubs, driving nice cars and living a limited sort of playboy lifestyle. Because the foreign community was still fairly small, their world was necessarily restricted, but they were a noticeable presence. One young Italian man I remember, a diplomat’s son, struck a peasant with his car and promptly left the country. Another girl I knew from this crowd, a French woman of Lebanese ancestry, showed up in the newspapers after I left China. During a vacation to the Philippines, she and her friends were kidnapped by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and treated very harshly before they were rescued.

Life as a foreigner in China was certainly interesting, and among foreigners one could find a menagerie of characters from all walks of life. There were cowboys and loggers, teachers, farmers, engineers, businessmen and even criminals. Most would drift in and out, but a few would lay down an anchor and settle in to life in China. The stories told in bars over drinks, the companionship shared in strange circumstances and the countless petty dramas that played out every day colored the small society of expats, and gave us a character of our own in the vast mass of humanity that is China.