Depends on a lot of factors. Personally, I feel that much of the flavor of the AP is lost if you start with asian-esque PC's. From that standpoint, I disallow those races which initially appear in the Dragon Empires material (I.E. Kitsune, Nagaji, Samsaran, etc...)
But that is personal oppinion.
To be honest, while I acknowledge it is somewhat hypocritical of me, anything other than Core should probably be examined with a very close eye, particularly if you are new to GM'ing.
This is only tangentially related but James Jacobs just explained that half-orcs are very rare in Minkai. Meaning that any green folk will soon seem more and more exotic/bizarre the closer their caravan gets to their destination.
No reason to ban them though. Just makes for interesting roleplaying opportunities.
Its exactly the same situation as Rite Publishing's Curse of the Golden Spear trilogy of modules set in the Kaidan setting of Japanese horror (PFRPG). The point of the campaign is for foreign (western) PCs to visit the exotic far east. It isn't exotic if anyone is actually from there. Moreso of Kaidan, than Minkai, however, as like feudal Japan, the empire has been closed to outside contact and only recently - just before the start of the campaign, have the borders been opened.
PCs should NOT be from Minkai or Kaidan for best effect.
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This is only tangentially related but James Jacobs just explained that half-orcs are very rare in Minkai. Meaning that any green folk will soon seem more and more exotic/bizarre the closer their caravan gets to their destination.
Toothy grin + large eyes + larger nose = Oni?!
I've actually milked this a bit for both of my groups, as the Half Orc's have seen a gamut of different treatment. Sometimes viewed as kami/oni with expected reactions of worship/fear, other times treated with a respect previously unknown to them in their Avistani regions of birth as I imagine Minkai rarely had a chance to develop a cultural prejudice against Orcs.
On Topic, I pitched this to my players as an "West meets East" style of Story. Pretty much ended up with two tables full of people from Varisia in some manner. It's worked out great, as it allowed them to 'learn as they go' instead of having to be briefed on cultural differences long in advance.
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If you have access to Advanced Race Guide, I'd use that as a bench mark. Only allow races that come in below a certain point cap. I've gone as high as 15 (to allow for aasimar), but 13 and lower is where I personally would allow most campaigns. That gives you tieflings, tengu, skinwalkers, and a bunch of other options. If they want to use ARG to make their own, cap the points at 10-11.
Oh, and don't hesitate to add social and RP consequences for playing some of the more odd races.
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Races I allowed in my game were Core plus Aasimar, Tiefling, Tengu, Kitsune, and Samsaran. As they near travel, I'll open up more possibilities to them in the event of character death and such.