China’s former sex capital, Dongguan, retires in style.
Words: Lin Qiqing
Visuals: Wu Yue
GUANGDONG, South China — Just a few years ago, hundreds of sex workers lined the entry hall at the Versailles Hotel. Clients called the hall “Flower Street,” and the men’s clothes were sometimes torn as the young women fought for their favor. But in September, the once-buzzing four-star hotel reopened as a nursing home.
The Versailles Hotel used to be one of the most popular nightclubs in Changping Town on the outskirts of Dongguan, a city known for its booming sex trade. According to the owner, at the hotel’s peak, more than 800 sex workers and 500 clients would pass through the doors on any given weekend evening. But a tough government crackdown on sex work in 2014 compelled the business to turn to a different market.
Now, the erstwhile Versailles Hotel is heralding a new age: Out with the young and in with the old. Former guest Wu Jiaming, 66, moved in eight months ago, before Hao Xiang Kang Le nursing home officially opened. He didn’t know it was the same place until he saw the familiar facade.
“It was a land of heroes, a den for burning gold,” Wu recalls, sitting in his wheelchair beside the vegetable garden. “It used to be all pretty girls, but now it’s all us old people.” As he speaks, he fiddles with the craniotomy scar on his bare head.
Wu is sensitive about his appearance and the fact that he needs assistance from a care worker. “I look like a ghost now,” he says, asking for a razor so he can freshen up before we film him.
Until his stroke last year, Wu led an active and colorful life. Originally from the provincial capital, Guangzhou, he was an accountant in Los Angeles for more than 20 years. In 2006, he moved to Dongguan to work in manufacturing exports and married shortly after.
Now, Wu rests where he once he reveled: He spends most of his day watching TV or reading novels on his iPad in his first-floor dorm that was converted from a karaoke room. “I just take things as they come,” he replies matter-of-factly when asked how he feels about the odd circumstances. “A lot of things bother me less since I fell sick last year.”
Wu doesn’t like living in a nursing home — he remembers his disgust upon witnessing a care worker here hit an elderly man with dementia just for eating too slowly. Previous nursing homes he tried were no better. “Everywhere is the same,” Wu says. “The care workers think it’s a demeaning job.”
But for now, Wu believes living at Hao Xiang Kang Le is what’s best for his family: His petite wife can’t carry him from the bed to his wheelchair. She visits him every couple of days with their kindergarten-age son. Every morning, Wu practices standing, hoping he can regain the ability to walk and finally return home.
See the full multimedia story on the Sixth Tone website by selecting 'Read More' at the bottom of the page.
Writer: Lin Qiqing
Videographer and photographer: Wu Yue
Story editor: Qian Jinghua
Visual editor: Qi Ya
Copy editor: Jessica Levine
Web developer: Lin Tao
Art designer: Long Hui
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