As China's economy and culturalprominence grows, expats from around the world and all walks of life flock tothe Middle Kingdom. While one of the oldestexpats in China haslived here over half a century, one recent survey asked the question, "Whoare China'stypical expats?"

The short answer: overwhelmingly male andilliterate. According to the China Society for Research on InternationalProfessional Personnel Exchange and Development, 74 percent of expats in China are male.In terms of nationality, 34 percent come from North America, 28 percent fromEuropean countries and 21 percent from Asia. Awhopping 73 percent of them barelyspeak Chinese – even though 30 percent have been living in China for 5-10years and 20 percent have been here for more than a decade. Clearly, companieslooking for expat workers aren't interested in providing Chinese lessons.

Along with summarizing demographics, thesurvey asked what expats what they didn't like about their lives in China. Asidefrom language barriers and constant visa-renewing troubles, the majority offoreign expats are concerned with education for their children, and medical andsocial insurances offered by their employers.

Of the 2000+ foreigners who participated insurvey, more that 70 percent are satisfied with their lives in China, and 75percent of their employers said that they were satisfied with their expatemployees. Just 17 percent expressed a little dissatisfaction with their lives,but still wished to continue working in China. Fortunately, only 3.3percent reported to be extremely dissatisfied with their professional lives, andwanted to leave as soon as their contracts terminated.

Foreigners in China complain a lot aboutpollution, racism, and the inability to secure permanent residency status.Despite all this, one study showed that China is actually the bestplace for expats looking to make money. The Chinese government is stillunsatisfied with these results, and in fact, they think “Chinaneeds to do better to hire and keep professional expats.” So hang in there,semi-professional English teachers!