In Pudong, the eastern part of the city of
Shanghai, there exists something that my friends like to call "little
America". Whereas the rest of the city is crowded full of people in apartment buildings, this newly-developed section of the city has houses with lawns, satellite dishes, and barbecues in the back yard.
The residents of little America are expatriates working for foreign companies; however they are usually there for only a period of perhaps one or two years and as such have little interest in learning anything about China. I have friends who live there, and I have to say that going there is surreal because they really do duplicate what an American suburban neighborhood looks like. (There are company-employed guards at the gate and guards hiding in the foliage however, so that none of farmers who live in the surrounding area sneak in and steal anything)
Also very few people there can even speak Chinese. I have heard also that there are similar communities in Shanghai containing Japanese instead of Americans.