A Bump from the Past: Odd Jobs

[889]

A fun thread from years ago, with posters confessing the crazy jobs they had to take to get by in China.

 

https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/11373-crazy-jobs-or-paid-experiences-people-have-had-in-china-like-impersonating-someone/

 

[Lu]

Mostly discussion on the ethics of impersonating a VIP from a foreign investment company. I think that line of work only existed for a very short period of time and has completely dried up now, or are there still people doing this?

[vellocet]

My prediction: a few fun stories followed by people getting really performatively angry that - oh heavens! - there might be some laowai doing work that wasn't allowed by their visa category.

 

Yup, right.  

[889]

You want the other old thread instead, the one I can't find, about 老外 getting paid for just standing around and looking like 老外?

[Brian US]

I had a Westerner classmate from a country I forget, but his Chinese was really good and I totally forgot about him when I left China in 2014. Come 2018 being sent back for work, I'm riding the high-speed train to Huangshan and there he was on a travel show playing over the drop-down TVs all over the train. Can't find his Linkedin, but he did a travel show for about two years before going back to teaching or to his home country.

 

Was kinda surreal taking a late-night train and assuming his face is probably on every single high-speed rail across the country. I am not Chinese TV famous for the best.

[Lu]

When I first studied in Beijing (2002-2003), many of us white students did some modeling or extra-ing when the occasion arised. A 学长 of mine who had been to BLCU the previous year, a handsome guy, apparently had his picture on a HUGE billboard on I think Xizhimen. I don't remember if I saw it myself, but I did think it was cool.

 

I was an extra in a series called 啼笑因缘, with 胡兵. Never saw it, but it was an interesting enough experience.

[Jim]

I filmed one clothing commercial that involved me riding a horse and turning to look back in a sultry fashion. Never thought about it again until I got a call from an old classmate who'd nearly died laughing when it came on TV in the hotel he was in.