More and more mixed-blood people - half-Chinese, half-Western - are showing up in Shanghai. Not surprising since there are so many Western men with Chinese women.

They're known as hun xue, or mixed blood, and many just say of themselves, "I'm half."

In fashion and entertainment, they are popular as "fusion" models as they are taller than most Chinese and have distinctive features.

Lou Jing calls herself a "typical Shanghai girl" who loves shopping, cooking and going to the movies.[Shanghai Daily]

For some who are bilingual, it's the best of both worlds and they can understand and savor the culture of both China and the West.

Bilingual mixed-race guys are frequently approached by Chinese women who want to get married.

Mixed-race babies and toddlers are popular in product advertising.

There's a perception among Chinese that hun xue are especially attractive and more intelligent than most people.

For a mixed-race girl with an American father, there's no excruciating pressure to excel in school and sacrifice her childhood to academics so she can get into a good college.

She can go to a US university.

For those who are part African American and only speak Chinese, avenues are open. However, when it comes to marriage and family - all-important in China - there are hurdles to overcome.

The attraction in China of mixed-race people is understandable.

In a rather homogenous society, it is intriguing for people to see a different look, especially when the difference is mixed with similarities that are easy to understand.

Patrick Liu, who is Chinese and not mixed, did his dissertation on the family history of a half-Chinese, half-American family in Nanjing, capital city of Jiangsu Province. He's getting his master's degree in sociology.

He comments: "For historical reasons, most parts of China are rather homogeneous.

Most people, with similar physical features, grow up with similar backgrounds and have very few contacts with a different world except through TV or the Internet.

"Given such homogeneity in culture, they are more likely to be curious about or admire a different culture."

He says people who are interested in the West may feel more at ease with a mixed-race person than a foreigner.

Commenting on the stereotype of mixed-blood people being especially pretty/handsome and unusually intelligent, Liu says that perception reflects both pride in Chinese culture and respect for foreign culture.

"Although they are all in the 'mixed-blood group,' each person deals with identity and their culture quite distinctively, depending on their own experiences," he says.

It's impossible to generalize, but each "mixed" person's experience reveals interesting aspects of being "cross-cultural."

Shanghai Daily talks to three quite different mixed-blood people in Shanghai, each with a distinct experience.

There's Catherine Ann Reid, 14, a Chinese-American in international school; Lou Jing, 21, a Chinese African-American who wants to be a TV host; and Gregory Chow, 28, a Chinese Frenchman who is just discovering his roots and learning Chinese. 'Go your own way and let others talk' "Chocolate Angel" Lou Jing, who is mixed Chinese and African-American, speaks perfect Shanghainese and wowed the audience with her singing, acting and Huju Opera performance on a TV talent show, "Angel."

Lou's mother is Shanghainese and her father African-American; she was born in Shanghai and grew up with her mother.

Lou, 21, is majoring in TV hosting at the Shanghai Theater Academy.

She recently performed in the Dragon TV star-making show "Angel," but didn't make it to the final 10.