靠脸就能吃饭的外国人：那些年我在中国当“白猴子”！

导读:在中国有这么一批人，不管他们来自哪里、不管他们姓甚名谁，只要他们长着一张外国人脸就能在中国混口饭吃，他们自嘲自己是“白猴子”。

David Borenstein’s documentary on working as a "white monkey" in China is drawing lots of attention.

大卫·博伦斯坦关于在中国做“白猴子”的纪录片引起了许多人的关注。

"Nobody cares whether you are an accomplished actor or what do you do for a living. If you have a foreign face, you will be put on the stage, playing an architect or a musician in activities organized by real estate developers. White people are more popular," he explains, summarizing the premise of his 73-minute film Dream Empire.

他总结了自己的73分钟电影《梦想帝国（Dream Empire）》，然后解释道：“没人在乎你是否是一个有成就的演员，也没有人在乎你是干什么的。只要你长着一张外国人的脸，你就可以粉墨登台，在房地产开发商举办的活动上扮演一个建筑师或者音乐家。白人还要更受欢迎一些。”

Borenstein, a visiting American scholar from Miami, made the film about his experiences with a group of foreigners who were invited to real-estate openings and other activities in the second- or third-tier cities like Chengdu in Southwest China’s Sichuan Province or Chongqing to help "create an international atmosphere."

博伦斯坦是一个来自迈阿密的美国访问学者，他根据自己的经历和一群外国人一起制作了这部电影，这些外国人曾被邀请参加诸如成都、重庆等二三线城市的房地产开发商剪彩和其他活动，从而帮助主办方“创造一种国际氛围”。

In the late 2000s and early 2010s, when China was going through a round of housing fever, many foreigners, who self-depreciatingly referred to themselves as "white monkeys" because they were treated like animals doing tricks in a carnival, were often approached by agents in the rent-a-foreigner industry to show up at promotional events organized to lure potential buyers.

在2010年前后，当时中国正经历一轮房地产热，许多外国人频繁被“出租外国人”行业的中介接触，让他们参加吸引潜在买家的营销活动，这些人经常自嘲自己是“白猴子”，因为他们感觉自己就像在狂欢节上耍把戏的动物一样。

The foreigners were often backpackers who were recruited in streets or pubs in these cities, or language teachers.

“白猴子”通常是在这些城市的街头和酒吧里招来的背包客，有些人还是外教。

Borenstein said that the atmosphere of these performing activities is like "staying in a zoo" where the foreigners are like monkeys, and their white skin is the only reason for their popularity.

博伦斯坦称，这些表演活动上的气氛就好像“在动物园”一样，而外国人就好像关在笼子里的猴子——白皮肤是他们受欢迎的唯一原因。

Interested in the rent-a-foreigner industry, as well as the political and cultural climate behind it, he recorded his work experience and made his documentary Dream Empire in 2016, which follows the rise and fall of Yana, a foreigner agent, and the Chinese building boom.

由于对出租外国人行业、以及对该行业背后的政治和文化气候感兴趣，博伦斯坦记录下了自己的工作经历，并在2016年制作了纪录片《梦想帝国》，该片记录下了外国经济人亚娜的兴衰、以及中国的建筑热潮。

An abridged version of the film was recently widely circulated on Chinese social media. It prompted many Chinese viewers to criticize a sense of inferiority amongst Chinese people and an attitude of worshipping everything foreign.

最近这部电影的删减版在中国社交媒体上广为流传。这使得许多中国观影者批评国人的一种自卑感和崇洋媚外的态度。

Borenstein argued that the rent-a-foreigner industry is just one of several themes of his documentary. "I have studied Chinese for 10 years. My general impression of the Chinese people is very high," he told the Global Times on Monday via e-mail.

博伦斯坦称出租外国人行业只是他纪录片多个主题中的一个。本周一，他通过电子邮件向《环球时报》表示称：“我研究中国人已经10多年了，我对中国人的整体印象非常好。”

"Most Chinese people were proud of their own culture. But it is interesting that at the same time many had a tendency to glorify Western countries," he noted.

他指出：“大多数中国人都为自己的文化感到自豪。但是有趣的是，同时许多中国人又倾向于颂扬西方国家。”