This article describes the successful "reverse brain drain" scheme offered by the Chinese government for their scholars who study abroad. The program is a significant about-face from early Chinese policy on overseas study. Government programs and individual academic departments now offer competitive benefits and salaries to candidates interested in returning from abroad. Combined with China's rapid economic growth, the programs are attracting an increasing number of sea turtles, as these scholars are known. Returnees tend to assume positions of leadership, with the power to introduce new teaching methods, direct research, or oversee curricular reform. This flow of returnees back into China has become so noticeable that it has prompted a backlash of cultural conflict, resentment from locals, and infighting. And as more people return, hiring policies are tightening. As Chinese universities become more competitive, turning out better graduates, the emphasis on foreign experience may decrease as returnees compete in the hiring pool with locally trained scholars.