Anyway OP, to make your stay in Kunming and China as memorable as possible, you shouldn't worry too much about discrimination. Just realize that it does exist, but just try to go about your days as best you can and understand that whatever discrimination you may encounter is usually quite subtle and often born out of ignorance and lack of exposure to immigrants more than anything else. At least in Kunming, foreigners are still rare and thus few locals have had any real dealings with them so hence they are still treated as a kind of novelty, which for someone like me who does not like fame, is annoying, but at least it's never threatening.

Take a look at this article to give you some perspective: www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/02/09/090209fa_fact_osnos

@HFCAMPO, sorry but your last sentence hints at ignorance and lack of knowledge about what consitutes racism. Let's not get off topic here by comparing America to China but let me just comment on your "getting pulled over by the police in AmeriKa (it's spelled AmeriCa dude)" comment: In a country as diverse as America, that kind of crap is not going to happen.

But yes, in China, if you are white, black, an ethnic minority, i.e. anyone not from the majority you WILL experience discrimination, and yes, it is called racism. Just because racism in China may be more subtle than in other nations, it doesn't mean there's no problem.

Similarly, how do you know that the people you walk past aren't saying something negative about you behind your back? I mean, if I spent all my time worrying about what everyone might be saying about me as I walk on a street in Kunming I'd surely lose a lot of sleep, but at least I'm not in such a state of denial to think that people will treat me the same as locals. I can guarantee you that there WILL be locals talking about you behind your back; this wouldn't happen if you were considered to be a local.

China is a homogeneous nation and homogeneous nations are by definition proud nations that will discriminate against minorities even if they don't want to admit it. In Asia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore are all much more heterogeneous than China and similarly, much more used to foreigners, thus discrimination will be felt much less in those countries than in China. The same comparison can be made between the USA/Canada/Australia and Poland/Russia/Ukraine etc. As a minority in any of the first three countries no one will even notice you, but in the latter three countries discrimination does occur quite frequently, particularly in Russia.

@Calgrad unfortunately, there is some prejudice held against foreigners and people with darker skin in China in general. This includes SE Asians such as Thais (those without Chinese ethnicity) and Malaysians with only moderately tanned skin, the former receiving a bad rap in the eyes of many local Kunmingers according to my Chinese friends. This is not so much because of their appearence (indeed, there even seems to be some negativity towards ethnic Chinese Thais) but probably has something to do with cultural differences and possibly superior cultural attitudes on the part of both parties.

When it comes to black Africans and African Americans etc. the Chinese view is often one of extreme ignorance and occassionally downright prejudice, with mothers regularly shielding their kids once sight of a black person is made, although this is by no means the reaction everyone will give you. Most people will simply ignore you, just like they ignore me given that Kunming is a big city, but if you walk long distances from place to place there will probably be the odd person or two who decides they need to comment on your appearence or something - they'll probably do it behind your back, but that's not necessarily any more reassuring. It must be said that most racism in China is subtle and very rarely involves violence. So don't worry about that - what you will have to deal with are stares, comments and other forms of ignorance, many of which will be quite subtle in nature, but discriminatory nevertheless.

I will never understand the racist attitude by some Chinese that you have to be white to teach English, assuming that's the kind of work you are looking for. However, I think it could be that because China is so homogeneous, and the Chinese are used to associating someone's physical appearence with certain countries, they may not be aware that America, Australia, Canada etc. are actually very multicultural and that there are plenty of non-white people living there who are also citizens of those countries and fully integrated etc. This likely leads to the view that black people are "non-native" speakers and thus not qualified to teach. In addition to this, the prevailing negative attitude towards black people doesn't help either.

Personally, I think there are many people of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds who are very well qualified to teach English, probably much more than I am (I am an engineer, but in the past I did teach a bit of English on the side). For starters, I don't have any teaching qualifications and I don't even like teaching, it's mundane and offers no advancement opportunities, hence my lack of motivation in the past.

Therefore, get out there and fight any prejudice you may encounter! Be self-aware but don't let anyone get to you. Find a job and try your best to ensure that you won't be rejected because of what you look like. Most of all, try to make the most of your experience in Kunming. Like others have said, once people get to know you, the barriers do break down.

Come on guys...everyone knows that the Chinese authorities turn a blind eye to "teachers" working on student visas. Nobody cares as long as you don't commit a "real" crime or upset anyone.

China isn't the US yet when it comes to enforcing action against overstayers and those that have worked illegally. Nor does working illegally mean you can't come to China again if caught.

Consider this example: I know of a young Lao Chinese language student who used to "study" at Yunnan University of Nationalities. This kid, who was 21 or so at the time, didn't really do much in the way of study, but only showed up to class once a month or so, the rest of the time partying at night and sleeping during the day.

Once his money ran low, he was forced to drink at the dorms, and that's where the trouble started. One night he was drunk and became violent, hitting another student and then smashing a door (this is after he had already damaged something in his own room).

The kid was deported to Laos, but his parents simply applied for a new passport and Chinese visa and lo and behold, he came back to Kunming to study at another university within a few months.

Something like this couldn't happen in Australia or the USA - if you get deported you can't automatically come back, even with a new passport.

Not that working illegally as a teacher is a good idea nor is smashing a door (haha) but, when it comes to the former, many schools will insist it's OK if asked. I'd say, keep a low profile and don't worry.

What blobbles said is exactly right. OP, what made you think that YouTube is blocked in Laos and Vietnam? Just because they are "communist" and next to China doesn't mean they are anything like China! In fact, Laos is about as open an economy as you can find in this part of the world and they are trying to simplify doing business as much as possible.

YouTube is 100% accessible in both countries, and as far as I'm aware, there are generally no blocked websites in Laos, unlike in China. However, facebook is an on/off affair in Vietnam, though it can generally be accessed.

The only other country in the region (apart from North Korea of course) where the internet is heavily censored is Myanmar, but with the recent opening up of that country, this could change quite quickly in a positive direction (some years ago, even hotmail and yahoo mail as well as yahoo! news etc. were either inaccessible or very difficult to access in Myanmar).