Disclaimer: I realize that the article says that it isn't necessarily entirely about China, and more about demonstrating certain personality traits, but China's

Disclaimer: I realize that the article says that it isn't necessarily entirely about China, and more about demonstrating certain personality traits, but China's relevance is clearly the hot issue here. I know I find the Chinese market fascinating and would love to get involved in its explosive growth in any meaningful way I can. TL;DR: If you want to be part of the future brain drain to China, merely knowing Chinese culture/language isn't sufficient. Be an expert in something that's needed world-wide and you will be needed in China. I worked at Microsoft Research in Beijing as an intern and I think one of the biggest lessons I walked away with was that in order to work in China and actually have an impact prior experience in China is necessary but _not_ sufficient. Like anywhere else - you will always need to be an expert in your field to have impact, regardless of the cultural context in which you work - being a token part of an organization affords no influence. I think a lot of people get involved with China thinking - "I'll learn Chinese and I'm sure companies in China would love to have an American on board connecting them with Western society!" The reality is, however, that most people in the knowledge industry's English is probably a lot better than your Chinese. I worry that some people fear China's impending growth and task their kids on becoming an expert in Chinese instead of an expert in a field China greatly demands (say photovoltaics). Being a white guy who can speak Chinese is a neat party trick in a domestic Chinese setting but is very much second to if you can warrant the insane pay rate you might demand relative to a typical domestic employee. Think about H1Bs and how they're designed to weed out anyone who's job couldn't be done by an American worker. In China, I don't think the legal rules are quite as strict, but there is plenty of swelling nationalism to more than make up for it.