“Piers had been in China for all of two days in 2009 when he was used as a #WhiteMonkey” 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”

This isn’t just a “China-thing”. For decades now western businesses have employed “White Monkeys”. You know them better as suits with an #MBA.

#BioMimicry / #tofu / #corporations <https://theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/may/16/fake-lawyers-scientists-chefs-punters-white-monkeys-chinese-businesses-global>