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Beijing, China (CNN)
By Lara Farrar, for CNN
June 29, 2010 -- Updated 1133 GMT (1933 HKT)

-- 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.
They have not told me what my name is today. I think it is Lawrence or something
--Beijing actor pretending to be a New York architect
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"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."

Dear Terry,

Thank you for your post. We have nearly finished transferring our course material into this new format, and some course material still needs proofreading. Are you currently reading the Foundation Course?

Thanks again for your comment, and we are doing our best to have final versions of every course posted in the new format as soon as possible.

Please use this forum to discuss or post comments concerning your online course material presented in the Moodle format. We would love to hear from you! How do you like the online reading format, do you have any suggestions concerning topics covered in the course, and do you find this format easy/difficult to use? All comments are welcome, but please send questions specific to your own Global TESOL course (e.g. payments, enrollment, status) directly to info@globaltesol.com

Just a note concerning asking for passports - I don't think it is a problem to send a copy to prospective employers. In my experience, if you are applying for a job and you are not already in the country where you want to teach, the school simply wants to know (before they pursue your application any further) that you have a passport valid for at least one year so they know that you are actually capable of working abroad.

I would very much like to thank you for I have spent the past 6 years teaching ESL overseas in Japan. The experience was wonderful, thanks to the information I received from your course ~ Brandie Lippert

The National Cancer Center of Korea is located in Ilsan. Ilsan is also home to Lake Park (호수공원), which has the largest man-made lake in South Korea. [1] The lake covers 72.9 acres. [2] There are several recreational facilities such as biking, inline skating, walking, and a jogging trail that encircles the entire lake. Lake Park also features a cactus arboretum, botanical gardens, and a toilet museum. The area surrounding Lake Park is a large and sprawling commercial district, which include the Lotte Department Store, Grand Department Store as well as the huge La Festa shopping complex and the Western Dom which hosts hundreds of stores, restaurants, entertainment venues, and bars. The nightlife in La Festa and Western Dom is also evident as thousands of young people can be seen and businesses are always bustling, especially the bars and nightclubs pounding out loud music until the early morning hours every day. Ilsan is also the site of an annual electric lights festival.

I would keep sending resumes as it is still the case that thousands of 'TESOL certificate only' holders are working now in China. While ads state that they want a degree it is more of a wish list and you should apply for all positions.

While PRC "official" regulations in some regions may state that a degree is required for a work permit, businesses operate largely based on "guanxi" - (their $relationship with local authorities).

Below was taken directly from a recent ad (URL included as well).

"A degree or TEFL certificate is strongly preferred yet we consider all applications."

http://www.englishclub.com/tefl/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=9591

Hello! Please contact Catholic Social Services as follows:

Contact Information
Municipality: Edmonton
Address: 8815 99 Street
Edmonton, Alberta
T6E3V3
Fax: (780) 439-3154

Please read the following carefully to learn how to complete your courses by correspondence.

Note: Students who took (or will take) their Foundation Course in-class do not need to access additional Foundation Course materials or exams.

Courses are completed by reading and by following instructions in your hardcopy manual for each course. Please note: please disregard instructions in any manual referring to online assignments. Online assignments are currently not available to Correspondence Students.

You may complete and receive your certificate for any course in one of two ways:

OPTION #1 [Recommended]: Read the manual and use the assignments only to prepare for the Online Final Exam. This option requires that students take only the Final Exam for any course, and do not submit assignments.

OPTION #2: Read the manual and complete all of the required assignments (as explained in the manual). Assignments are either emailed or sent by post to Global TESOL College.

Accessing Your Final Exams (for students who have chosen Option #1 above)

When you have reached the end of the readings and activities for any course, the next step is to set aside some time to take the Online Final Exam to complete your course. Your exam results are received by Global TESOL College within 48 hours and you will be emailed your results and the status of your certificate. Please do not call or email after finishing exams unless you have not been notified by email within 48 hours.

The exams consist of a combination of either multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, or true or false questions. They are timed exams (see individual exams for details).

Please read the following to access any exam:

1. Go to www.globaltesol.com
2. Click on "My Account" and sign in with your password
3. Choose 'My Page'. You will see 'Exam Center' on the right side of the screen.
4. When you are ready to take the exam, click on 'Exam Centre' and the specific exam tab to open it.
5. If you experience a service disruption (e.g. power outage) you need to apply for a re-take session. This can be arranged by contacting Global TESOL College at academic@globaltesol.com
6. The passing mark is 50%, and is calculated from the combined marks of all sections. If a mark of 50% overall is not achieved, a re-take session ($30.00 CDN) can be arranged by contacting academic@globaltesol.com.

Thank you, and please email academic@globaltesol.com or click on http://www.globaltesol.com/forum/General to post a question in the Forums.

Please read the following carefully for information about accessing your online course material and final exams:

Note: Students who took (or will take) their Foundation Course in-class do not need to access Foundation Course materials online; in-class students only complete Specialization Courses online.

To access your online course material:

a) Go to www.globaltesol.com
b) Click on "My Account" and sign in with your password
c) Choose 'My Page'. On the right side of the screen you will see the "Course Material" option. Simply click on this link to view instructions and content for your courses.

Important Note:

Some courses in the new format include assignments. The assignments for all courses, including the Foundation Course, are not mandatory. They are to be used for personal development and as preparation for the online exam. To complete the Foundation Course and any Specialization Course and receive a certificate, you need only complete the online exam with a score of 50% or greater.

Q: How do I study my courses online and how should I prepare for the exam?

A: Course material is viewed topic by topic, and is like opening a new web page for each new heading. Sometimes clicking on a topic will open a page with text for reading; other topics open short videos or optional assignments and quizzes. As you work through any course, read topics in the order in which they are presented (since some topics build on previous ones). Take notes as you read through the course and complete the practical (optional) assignments to prepare for the exam. When you are ready to take a Final Exam, you can refer to your notes and assignments.

Accessing Your Final Exams

When you have reached the end of the readings and activities for any course, the next step is to set aside some time to take the Online Final Exam to complete your course. Your exam results are received by Global TESOL College within 48 hours and you will be emailed your results and the status of your certificate. Please do not call or email after finishing exams unless you have not been notified by email within 48 hours.

The exams consist of a combination of either multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, or true or false questions. They are timed exams (see individual exams for details).

Please read the following to access any exam:

1. Go to www.globaltesol.com
2. Click on "My Account" and sign in with your password
3. Choose 'My Page'. You will see 'Exam Center' on the right side of the screen.
4. When you are ready to take the exam, click on 'Exam Centre' and the specific exam tab to open it.
5. If you experience a service disruption (e.g. power outage) you need to apply for a re-take session. This can be arranged by contacting Global TESOL College at academic@globaltesol.com
6. The passing mark is 50%, and is calculated from the combined marks of all sections. If a mark of 50% overall is not achieved, a re-take session ($30.00 CDN) can be arranged by contacting academic@globaltesol.com.

Thank you, and please email academic@globaltesol.com or click on http://www.globaltesol.com/forum/General to post a question in the Forums.