Foreign faces: laowai TV stars tell all

While the country's manufacturing industry may be taking a hit with exchange rate fluctuations and the housing market has its ups and downs, one industry is undoubtedly growing: entertainment. The country has more than 1 billion television viewers and at least 350 million households have television sets. China's film industry has also enjoyed a boost in the last few years. Last year, there was a 15 percent increase in locally produced films compared to 2009, according to media research firm EntGroup. China's film industry saw revenues of about 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) last year, up from 6 billion yuan in 2009.

In the next five years, China plans to boost the value of its film and television market to 3 trillion yuan - showing just how much room for growth there is. While there are many aspiring Chinese actors, directors and producers looking to cash in on the bourgeoning industry, there's another group who seem to have fallen into the industry almost by accident: foreigners.

Some have come to China and found fame and fortune with nothing more than their Western looks and some shaky Chinese skills - and then there's the occasional superstar such as Chinese speaker extraordinaire Dashan, a Canadian who astonishes locals and laowais alike with his panache in his adopted culture. Less-known movie and TV actors like Jonathan Kos-Read, Stephen Weathers and Rachel DeWoskin, who might be regular folks in their home countries, have become local and national celebrities in China.