The Shanghai night shift

Hu Jie: Mental health doctor at a hospital in Pudong New District.

Hu Jie: Mental health doctor at a hospital in Pudong New District

The main hospital building is shaped to look like a temple. Its grounds include sprawling greenery complete with rock sculptures, a small stream, a decorative outdoor pavilion and benches. It looks like a tycoon’s estate or a well-maintained park, but in reality more than 100 mentally ill, long-term patients call this hospital home.

“We have had many, many interesting situations arise at night,” says Hu Jie, carefully, from behind a big mahogany desk in an air-conditioned office she borrowed for our meeting. 

“There are a lot of misconceptions about mental health institutions in China from Chinese people and foreigners. First, the government doesn’t bring people here. Everybody who is here was brought to us by family members,” Hu explains. “A lot of Chinese people think that mentally ill people become dangerous at night when there is a full moon -- that’s not true either, it’s just a matter of health. They are not werewolves!”

Like the greenery, Hu Jie doesn’t quite look like she belongs here either. Her matronly appearance belies an ability to take care of over 30 patients on any given night -- even when they start biting and hitting, which, according to Hu, is a nightly ordeal and part of the job. “At night, there are only two doctors and our nurses. My responsibility during the night is to keep patients physically healthy.”

“Sometimes, it’s quite stressful,” she adds. Patients will try anything to go home. Hu recalls, “One time, a patient stowed his sleeping medication for a week, and then put all the pills into a doctor’s tea. He made off with my colleague’s car keys while the doctor was feeling woozy.”

Sounds dangerous. “Of course it’s more dangerous than the day shift!” says Hu. “There’s less hospital staff. We don’t even let our new doctors [those with less than two years of experience] work the night shift. I guess I never have a dull moment though.”

Xie Wei: Night shift leader at Flying Elephant Restaurant & Bar.

Xie Wei: Night shift leader at Flying Elephant Restaurant & Bar

With the cheap alcohol, a laser-lit dance floor and seedy dive bar feel, you wouldn’t expect any member of Flying Elephant’s night staff to be so damn happy.

For Xie Wei, partying expats Russians are the best part of her night, despite the fact that their fun time routinely translates to an extended night shift for her. Xie and her team technically work from 7pm-3am, but are obligated to stay until the last customer leaves.

“On weekends, we can be here until 5am or 6am,” explains Xie, who is a bartender, server, bus girl, cashier and maintenance person, depending on what the customers need her to be. Somehow though, she is smiling.

As she takes an order in Russian and fills a beer mug up with Suntory, Xie explain the appeal of the night shift work.

“Personally, I really like working here. Especially night shift. There’s lots of laughs. The atmosphere is very casual, very fun. We [the staff] get along, we get pulled in to play birthday games and onto the dance floor too. I’ve worked here long enough that I even like Russian music and cream in savory dishes,” she says. “Plus, 90 percent of the people here tonight have been coming for years. They don’t cause problems.”

Xie has been working the night shift at Flying Elephant, Shanghai’s only Russian restaurant and bar, for five years. Before that, she worked in a Russian restaurant in Shenzhen.

“This might not be an ideal job to most people, but I get to have a lot of fun at my job. I have a good boss. All of that is rare in the service industry. Everyone here, including our ayi, has stayed on for two years or more.” she adds.
The Flying Elephant Restaurant & Bar, 3/F, The Bund Hotel, 525 Guangdong Lu near Hubei Lu 广东路525号金外滩兵馆3楼 近湖北路, +86 21 6351 0797

Kara Bierley, co-owner of Amy’s Bedroom.

Kara Bierley: co-owner of Amy’s Bedroom

“Many people walk in thinking this is a store that sells cute girl things,” muses Kara Bierley, the Texan co-owner of Amy’s Bedroom. “Then they see that dildo.” She points at a rather prominent brown jelly penis with a tan tip.

Looking around we see lingerie, handcuffs, lube, an assortment of things that vibrate as well as anthropomorphic dildos. “Westerners see a dildo with a caterpillar head and think gross, bestial,” Bierley explains, “but Asians think whimsical.” Who knew?

Despite the bounteous selection of adult toys, Bierley takes her job seriously. It’s still a job.

According to Bierley, when you work at a sex shop, it doesn’t matter what time of the day it is -- Shanghai ’s discriminating adult toy lovers stockpile their late night goodies around the clock, but nights are definitely her most, shall we say, "interesting" times.

“Basically, when you talk about our night time customers, you’re talking about the drunks. They pick up the merchandise and put it down all over the place. But they’re harmless so I don’t mind… though once we had a man come in and start masturbating.” Bierley pauses. "But it’s not all bad," she continues. "The other night, we had dancers from the American Pavilion come in and ask for a discount on some items. To convince us, they plugged in an iPod and put on a great performance while my friend and I watched over our takeout mala tang [a type of Chinese soup]. I paid that discount out of my own pocket, but it was worth it” she says laughingly from the couch, snug between a plush pink penis and a pair of fuzzy boobs.
Amy’s Bedroom, 160 Xiangyang Nan Lu near Nanchang Lu, 襄阳南路160号近南昌路, +86 21 6467 7498

McLane Zhou: Night manager at the JW Marriott Tomorrow Square.

McLane Zhou: Night manager at the JW Marriott Tomorrow Square

“I am GM at night,” says McLane Zhou. What does that mean at a busy five-star hotel? According to Zhou, it means that everything is his responsibility, whether it’s from keeping personnel from slacking off and handling ‘miscommunications.’ (“When people drink, they became courageous,” he observes) to accounting for the whole day’s revenue and expenses and turning off that last, forgotten burner in the kitchen.

“What this job takes is the ability to be a finalizer,” says Zhou. “I have to make snap decisions that other departments can live with. There is no one else to make them for me. It takes a lot of experience, street smarts and simple common sense to make the right ones.”

Zhou has worked this job, 11pm-7am, for six years. He would like to transfer to daytime shift, but he’s still waiting for a suitable heir to take over his current post. They come and go after a few months, unable to handle the pressure. 

Why doesn’t he leave too?

“I can’t believe it’s been six years,” Zhou says and then pauses for a moment before continuing. “How did I do it every night? I always think of Jonathan Norson. He was a totally different breed of general manager, I could tell that from meeting him. A few years ago, I was at the Marriott, treating friends for my birthday dinner with my monthly allowance. He came by and said ‘Happy birthday yesterday, McLane.’ Then I was just a small fish. He had no reason to notice me, but he remembered and I’ve never forgotten that. I just want to be that good -- even at night.”
JW Marriott Tomorrow Square, 399 Nanjing Xi Lu near Huangpi Bei Lu near Huangpi Bei Lu 南京西路399号上海明天广场万豪酒店, 近黄陂北路, +86 21 5358 4969