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Q: At what point will China stop being a homogeneous society?
A lot of the posts here recently have been about being stared at and treated differently by Chinese people because our appearance is different to theirs, not to mention the discrimination that occurs (recruiters asking specifically for caucasian people/ discriminating against ABCs)
Do you think China will become a multi ethnic society some day? (not to discount Uyghurs or other minorities here- I know there are myriad different types of people in China, but i'm talking on a more international level)
Or at least get to a point where a white or black face isn't anything to stare at and people who look Chinese don't get paid less because of their ethnicity?
I would say you need at least 10% people from elsewhere or born in China but from parents from elsewhere.
hunana:
I know someone who is caucasian but grew up here their whole life. They told me that it was really difficult living here and speaking Chinese perfectly but still being treated like an outsider- do you think there will be a time when someone like that will feel accepted here?
Scandinavian:
yes, but it is far far away. 10% would be more than 100 million immigrants, not sure there are that many nut jobs in the world.
It's not like people are really pouring in these days, you know.
What difference does it make anyway, does a place really needs to stop being homogeneous to be... okay?
hunana:
No, it's not a problem, but I think it's one of the reasons behind Chinese people staring/ taking photos/ putting foreigners on a pedestal. Maybe it won't become completely diverse, like America or some European countries but at what point do you think Chinese people will just get used to foreigners and stop thinking they're super different/ special?
KimOnach:
This is about politeness and basic social skills. Nothing to do with genes really.
see the progress China has made in 5000yrs.. And you can make a guess when your wish can come true
never.
Even those who marry and remain in China, their child will probably always be an outsider or 'foreigner'
I have seen subtle change in the last few years to a more anti-foreigner stance in the country: we are an unwanted necessity and the more we can be discouraged from living and working in China the better.
hunana:
OK I agree that it might not happen in our lifetime, but how about in 50, 70 or 100 years?
Eorthisio:
Agree, in the last 5 years or so I have seen the overall opinion about foreigners going from worship to disdain.
sorrel:
the opinion of foreigners is being formed and promoted by media: just look at the constant references to 'foreigners', not people from individual countries.
I wouldn't say we were worshiped, but treated in a dysfunctional manner: many Chinese being 'polite', but being contemptuous at the same time.
We will always be the 'other' because it serves for us to be in this role.
A couple of personal observations
* Foreign nationals in China represents roughly 0.01% of the population
* The mentality "us and them" is still very strong, and it is a much used political tool
* The idea of integration of immigrants is completely alien to Chinese.
* What means "integration", when the concept of civil society does not even exists ?
* Nationality and ethnicity are merged into a single concept for the vast majority of Chinese.
* The migration trend is to go *out* of China, not going *in* China to stay since at least 1850. The change of trend did not quite percolated yet.
So nope, not gonna change right now.
China is for the Chinese. The Han Chinese.
I have no doubt about this and I think Beijing's Grand Plan is for this to remain the case.
When they close up shop in the not too distant future it'll be a case of deja vu all over again.
And we, the Chinese expats who have survived to tell the tale, can tell everyone not to worry...they aren't missing much.
Eorthisio:
No more Chinese moving to other countries and trashing them, this can't be a bad thing.
And I am also thinking that China is only for >>>Han<<< Chinese and this is the reason why the government is promoting interethnic marriage with minorities, their goal is to make a 100% Han China, not 99,99%, by assimilating the minorities.
The Han have almost always been at the bottom of the social ladder in Chinese history, they have been ruled by everyone and rarely ruled anyone else, including non-Chinese dynasties that conquered China in a cake walk, it only changed recently thanks to their birthrate and the commies. In fact most of China's historical figures are not Han Chinese.
Now that they have the upper hand they won't let it go easily.
This one I put fair and squarely as the responsibility of the party.
They control the propaganda machine.They just need to send out an email and everything changes.
I suspect that email has already been composed. But it will not be sent till the planed criteria is met.
China is run by autocrats, not knee jerking baby hugging elected representatives.
And their plan, whatever it is, seems to be going ok at the moment.
I suspect we feature in plan 9......But will plan 9 be implemented.... who knows. But someone does. And that someone is probably sitting down to a Peking Duck supper as he goes over tomorrows planed agenda.
One thing is for sure.... the plan is on paper.... not MS project 
royceH:
Plan 9 is from Outer Space.
This place seems, more often than not, to be a bit outa spacey....so yeah, yer probably right.
I think you're looking at this incorrectly. You're asking 1 question (multi-culturalism) while also adding another (being stared at), along with being accepted. Those are three different concepts!
To answer #1 - a multi-cultural China... not in our lifetimes, nor in those of our kids, or grandkids (unless we've sorted out complete body regeneration, and we get to live for a few thousand years each). This is pure numbers... Currently 1.3 billion Chinese (and growing), and only 600,000 foreigners (mostly located in the rich cities). A multi-cultural China just isn't going to happen. And, let's face it... they haven't done a great job with the cultures in their own country, let alone with those from outside it!
#2 - being stared at. Soon! Very soon, for the most part. Let's take a look at a couple of countries from around the world, shall we... such as Australia, America and Canada and New Zealand... four countries which are relatively advanced (ok, maybe not NZ 
), and NOW have a strong Anglo/Franco-western influence/culture. And in those major cities of those countries, not a lot of heterogeneity... There were 'whites' and 'others'. It was just the norm. And only the black and white movies and National Geographic to show us people from any other place. Then along came other races, from other countries, with other backgrounds... In my country, a large influx of Vietnamese and Thai, and not so long ago, another influx of Indians.. and even more recently, many from various African nations (typically from the mid-north of Africa). While 40+ years ago, they'd get stared at by many of the older folk, these days no-one bats an eyelid. And "g'day mate" comes out of the mouths of everyone - and you just can't pick a foreigner from someone who's been born there.
The majority of Chinese people had never seen a foreigner - at all until recently (if at all still). By 'at all', I mean no only in person, but also in any other form of media. Some have never seen a television, nor a computer/internet. So, it's sort of like the good old days back in the US, Canada, NZ and Aus... not too multi-cultural, and no mass media to show us anyone else - just those we see everyday. In the next 30-50 years (assuming China is still around, and hasn't started - and lost badly - any wars over disputed territories) - everyone will have seen us on the movies, have seen us on TV, and have even chatted with us over the internet. Even the oldies.. who these days feel completely overwhelmed with the massive changes in technology... the 'oldies' 50 years from now probably had a foreign English teacher, and had friends who worked for multinational companies, and even had some friends who went overseas, and married a foreigner.
So, answer to Q2 - soon!
Q3 -being accepted? Depends - on whether the CCP starts (and badly loses) any wars over disputed territories. If yes, and the victor comes in and implements big changes.. then it will be fairly soon, although there'll be a large part of the population who will harbour resentment and hate (like they do now). If the victor let's China go back to doing what it wants - it will depend on the Chinese people. If the CCP is allowed to continue as it has, then not for a very long time - because they'll have the resentment and hate become a national requirement, and introduce it to the school curriculum. If, however, the Chinese people get pissed off with the CCP's handling of a bad war for no reason, and they take over, then things will change very quickly, and the place will open up, and we'll be more than 'accepted;.
Failing a war, then it'll be quite a while, although, like now, in more advanced cities, we'll get more 'acceptance' than in less advanced cities.
Most countries in Asia will never become multi racial. Look at Japan, Korea, Thailand etc. how many years have westerners been trying to become nationals of those countries? How many yet have actually gotten citizenship? The answer is NONE! They'll gladly give you a green card but that's where it stops.
Robk:
I think the Philippines gives out citizenship. Not too certain.
I know they have a ton of visa options, makes it pretty to live there.
Spiderboenz:
If memotlry serves me correct, the only way for a foreigner to get citizenship in the Philippines is if s/he can prove that one of their parents was a citizen of the Philippines.
