When I first came to China, I thought all expats had one category. The "foreigner category". I used to work in ESL during a time when most foreigners here where back-packers and English teachers. 
 
Over time, I started to hear comments from people when I moved around China (one being my DoS or Director of Study). He mentioned we would be going to an event (as a school) and that we should expect other foreigners (from other industries) to look down on us. In his words, "We were bottom of the barrel". That really bugged me. I never saw myself or the job of educating young minds as "low class".
 
And then I noticed some Chinese shared the same sentiment, one women even saying in Chinese to her friends at a pizza parlor, "Many foreigners come here, most couldn't find jobs in their own country and are trash". So I gues she likes dining with trash? 
 
I noticed in the smaller cities people didn't care as much as the larger cities. 
 
One of my Chinese buddies got drunk on Bai jiu and spilled the beans on how they rated foreigners.
 
If you spoke Chinese, are married to a Chinese national or have been here over 5 years, then you get a little bit of extra brownie points. Here's how the Tiers go according to which fields:
 
1 - Ambassadors or politically related
2 - Large international corporations
3 - Import/Export - Scientific Research or Engineering
4 - Small Business Owners (perhaps models, actors, etc. are in this category)
5 - Intentional or Subject Teachers
6 - ESL teachers (training centers being the possible lowest)
 
What do you think of this, bullshit or truth? Do you experience other expats that "kan bu qi (look down on)" on others they feel are a lower tier?