Meaning:

    “洋” here means “foreign,” “漂” means to “drift,” and “族” refers to a group of people sharing similarities. This term, listed as a new word in Chinese by the Ministry of Education in 2007, refers to foreigners staying in China who are constantly traveling and jobhopping. Overseas students and expats sent by big corporations to work in Chinese branches do not fall into this group. Many “foreign drifters” take English-teaching jobs at training centers. Similar to terms like “北漂” (Beijing drifters), this term is neutral.

    Example:

    A: 有没有合适的口语外教推荐？

    Yǒuméiyǒu héshì de kǒuyǔ wàijiào tuījiàn?

    Is there some native speaker you can recommend to teach spoken English?

    B: 暂时没有。

    Zànshí méiyǒu。

    Not really.

    A: 你家孩子不是请了个英国人教口语吗？

    Nǐjiā háizi bùshì qǐng le gè yīngguórén jiāo kǒuyǔ ma?

    Isn’t there a British guy who teaches your child?

    B: 他是个洋漂族，去武汉找到新工作了。

    Tā shì gè yángpiāozú, qù wǔhàn zhǎodào xīn gōngzuò le。

    He’s a job-hopping foreigner. He is in Wuhan now, having found a new job.