Just over a month ago I reported on the scene at Manhattan in Shanghai. Of course that is not the only bar in the biggest city in China where working women ply their trade. There are also many others. While Manhattan is the biggest and best known there is another large bar where lots of women go each night in search of customers. That place is called Judy’s.
At another time Judy’s had a different location. At some point in the past it moved. In its current in carnation Judy’s is not far from Manhattan. It is located in a nice area. The building has several large red glowing name signs outside and from a distance it even looks like a mainstream bar and restaurant along the lines of an Applebee’s.
Inside the bar is large and open with a square shape. On one side there is a large bar backed by a big aquarium and a stage where a Filipino band plays. On the other side there are many tables and chairs.
The working women tend to crowd around the side with the tables and chairs. There many of them puff away on cigarettes despite the many no smoking signs found over by the bar. The women come from various countries in Southeast Asia and occasionally Africa. The majority seem to be in their twenties or thirties. A select few seem to be younger but those gals are also the most likely to keep their faces buried in their phones.
For a while there was one woman working the floor at Judy’s who was at least sixty years old. She seemed to be held in high esteem by other ladies at the bar which may indicate that she was some sort of de facto manager. On the other hand she could just be another working woman with a lot of seniority.
Anything seems to go when it comes to freelancers at Judy’s. These people don’t work for the bar and since they probably help to bring at least some customers in the bar ownership is probably happy to have them around even if they have no affiliation. Among the older ladies and mobile gaming fanatics others including ladyboys can also be found. There are also some women who have clearly invested huge sums in plastic surgery. While the allure of their big breasts are hard to deny the fact that their faces seem to be paralyzed is rather concerning.
While things can be comical at Judy’s there is also a sort of sad undertone to some of the women in the place. Surely there must be all sorts of terrible tales that many of the women searching for customers at the bar could tell. One can only guess if any of that will ever be revealed. For their part a lot of the ladies seem to be in good spirits and happy about their lives so perhaps things aren’t as bad as an suspecting eye may assume.
The majority of the women who work the floor at Judy’s like to lay low and wait for guys to approach them though this doesn’t seem to work well. One reason may be that most guys enter and sit at the bar to watch the band. With the center of focus in front of them they can’t really see the ladies. If they did want to look at the gals they would have to turn around and stare at them causing what could be a very awkward situation.
Some of the women seem to know this so they take it upon themselves to approach customers. While they are nice enough they can adopt a bad attitude when rejected even if it is done politely. Perhaps this has something to do sad tales in their backgrounds. Then again it could just be caused by the perceived loss of face. Nobody likes to be turned down.
When guys do make arrangements to step out with one of the working women at Judy’s they typically pay around 1000 Yuan ($145 USD) for a short bit of fun and a few hundred more for an encounter lasting the entire night. Of course different people come to different arrangements so higher or lower prices are sometimes agreed upon.
While the working women are probably the main attraction over at Manhattan it seems that most people come to Judy’s for drinks and the live music. The band is pretty skilled though one can only pity them when they repeatedly ask for requests without any forthcoming. Although the band is skilled the bar is too small for the sound level which is even louder than the booming sound system at Manhattan. Occasional female stage dancers are also an attraction at the bar though obviously they do not get nude.
Judy’s seems to have a higher ratio of Western customers than Manhattan. That could be because the working women at Manhattan are generally better looking and lighter skinned than those at Judy’s even if they are not necessarily a whole lot younger. In any event the Western men are certainly more popular at Judy’s. They are approached much more though this may be due to the perception that they are less likely to turn a lady down. Regular ladies of any ethnicity don’t seem to visit the bar much at all.
Whatever the case Judy’s draws in people night after night even though it is an incredibly loud and smoke filled venue frequented by a lot of older and less attractive women. What else can I say?
Judy’s. 331 Tongren Road, Shanghai, China. Click here for a map. Open every day from 7:00 PM until 5:00 AM. Phone: +86 021-6289-3715.
