Originally Posted by
moondog
I don't think it's fair to generalize like that. During the past several months, I've been making a conscious effort to network with 20-25 year old guys (both foreigners and Chinese that speak good English, but mostly foreigners) who got their first computer when they were 6, worked the internet from the very minute they got home from school for 8+ hours/day, and built up to (mid to high) 6-figure monthly incomes. I desperately crave guys like this in my organization because their perspectives on the market are superior to mine (I'm 36), and their operational abilities tend to be stunning.
They are not losers (I try to weed out the nerd types; believe it or not, it's possible to spend a great deal of time in front of a computer and retain social skills), and Chinese girls tend to genuinely like them. I can positively guarantee you that they would not hurt your rep in the slightest.
As a young foreign male myself (21, to be precise), I would like to emphasise this point: there's a big difference between the language school/English teacher crowd of troublemakers who spend all their time in Wudaokou and Sanlitun, and the young professionals and researchers who see their time in China as something more than an excuse to prolong their frat boy lifestyle on the cheap and procrastinate facing reality for a few more years.
It should be hardly surprising that this first group manages to often find themselves in alcohol-fuelled brawls over women; they do the same back in the US or UK or wherever they happen to be from. Everyone I know who has had problems in China fits nicely into this first category. I've yet to meet any members of the second group, on the other hand, who have found themselves caught up in a random bar fight.
There may well be some element of xenophobia, nationalism, or racism present in some of the altercations between young Chinese and foreign males, but in my experience, this type of trouble finds those who have gone looking for it. And by this I don't simply mean daring to go to Babyface or VICS or M2 on occasion—if you don't act like a drunken idiot, it's perfectly possible to patronise such establishments and have some fun without problems.