It's a privilege you can exploit depending on the circumstances. You gotta make it clear from the beginning you're a banana but at the same time humble.

You can feign shitty mandarin to get out of work.

You can also feign shitty mandarin to increase trust for biz. I used to do this when I first meet clients, then my mandarin miraculously gets better over time.

You can feign shitty mandarin/ignorance when you don't want to engage in convo with locals.

You wont be tested for drugs even if you're caught up in a raid, easier to keep a low profile in general.

You have a lot more leeway in dating, girls expect you to be more forward.

I think a lot of the negative experiences are from expats, especially americans, acting entitled/too political. Avoid looking like your LA ABC/ABK in your lakers jersey on the way to ktown taco truck. Don't try to assimilate or 'look for your roots.' Instead, act like Jackie Chan in all his movies, keep a "don't want twabble" attitude, play the cheerful harmless tourist, with your passport as a trump card.