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Forging Friendly Ties How foreigners are slowly infiltrating the motherland
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1950s: Foreign Guests, Wai Bin
Diplomatic isolation placed newly founded New China in a very difficult situation. China had two types of foreign visitors: so-called 'foreign experts' and a few overseas students from the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries.
The total number of foreign experts in China added up to little more than 30,000. All foreign experts lived at the Friendship Hotel, and their number didn't exceed 100 in Beijing.
Foreign tourists were virtually non-existent. The China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) and the China International Travel Service were only established in 1956. Tourism functioned only as a part of diplomatic activities, serving explicit political purposes. Only tourists from friendly socialist countries were accepted.
1960s: Friends of China, Zhong Guo De Peng You
CNTA began to receive more foreign tourists under the auspices of "Spread Chairman Mao Thought, Assist World Revolution". Western Europeans who wanted to know China began to be welcomed under tight controls. From 1956 to 1965, about 19,000 people from 38 countries and regions came to China.
With the Cultural Revolution in 1966, many of China's international activities stopped altogether and some embassies were even burnt to the ground. The number of foreign experts in China decreased sharply and tourism ended. Overseas students were not accepted at all from 1966 to 1972.
During the 1960s, it was very rare to see a foreigner indeed. Foreigners were automatically the center of attention walking down any street. For political reasons, many Chinese people held a very low opinion of foreigners.
1970s: Tourists, Ke Ren
From 1971, the CNTA started receiving private tourist groups, and meanwhile, allowed even "hostile" foreigners to come and have a look. After President Nixon's visit and China's regaining of a UN seat in 1972, more people asked to come to China. Most were still refused.
At that time, every single person and tourist group must apply to CNTA first and CNTA would inform the Chinese embassy of any visas. In Beijing, there were only 2,500 beds available to foreigners. Facilities remained functional and service is sometimes very poor.
Tourism was still regarded as part of diplomatic activities. The government attached great importance to visiting foreign tourists. Literary celebrities Guo Moruo and Hu Sheng often met tourist groups. For larger groups, Premier Zhou Enlai himself, if he had a little time, would arrange to meet and talk with visitors.
1980s: Foreign Chums, Lao Wai
The beginning of the 1980s was an exploratory stage in the opening up and reform policy. Many things foreign at last flowed into China and Chinese minds.
The government invited foreign investment and modern
technology. More foreigners came to China for work and study. With them, Western culture
and lifestyles came here too. Younger people took to jeans, T-shirts, sunglasses, cameras,
XO brandy and Mickey Mouse. Meanwhile, the older generation sometimes stood aghast, gazed
agape and criticized often. To have any contact with foreigners held a certain taboo
cachet and evolved into a bizarre kind of status symbol. 
1990s: Foreigner, Wei Guo Ren
With deepening reform and opening up, foreign exchanges continue to expand and normalize. Chinese people -- Beijingers especially -- are now inclined to treat foreigners more like ordinary mortals, warts and all.
TVs, refrigerators, cameras, microwaves and air conditioners, once the luxury preserve of foreigners, have become domestic essentials for Chinese families. In the last couple of years, Chinese have taken tentative steps back into the world community, both via the internet and by traveling abroad in tourism groups. Now more than ever, Chinese have an opportunity to feel 'foreign' as a two-way street.