The 2013 Chinese film Finding Mr. Right (北京遇上西雅图: literally translated as Beijing Meets Seattle) tells the tale of a pregnant “Beijing Diva” named Jiajia whose already-married tycoon boyfriend (the father of the child) gets in trouble with the law. So—she flies to Seattle, in part because she likes Sleepless in Seattle, but mostly to try and have her baby without the public scandal. Of course, she meets a handsome former Chinese doctor who now works as a taxi driver at the Sea-Tac airport. She promptly falls in love, and all sorts of class-comedy ensues.
The film was one of China’s highest grossing films of all-time, prompting an increase in the production of Chinese rom-coms, and Chinese tourism to Seattle. One of the more interesting side-effects of the film’s popularity has only more recently come to light—Chinese buyers now make up 1/3 of the market for suburban Seattle homes that cost $1 million or more, according to the New York Times:
Seattle real estate agents are hiring Mandarin speakers and even opening offices in Beijing. Builders are designing much of their new construction for Chinese buyers. Seattle real estate agents have even added a new term of art to their deal language: “the feng shui contingency.” Before closing on a house, many Chinese buyers are asking to have a feng shui master or consultant approve the house as part of a general inspection. Bad feng shui means no deal. Or, sometimes, some last-minute landscaping. “We had a case where a tree was blocking the chi, or energy flow, of the home,” said May Wan, an agent at Berkshire Hathaway Home Services in Bellevue who works with many Chinese buyers. “So it had to be taken out. They planted another one nearby.”
Chinese buyers are apparently very attracted to Medina and often ask local real estate agents where Bill Gates lives.