Mermaid Zheng Yingying entertains visitors at Changfeng Ocean World. Photo: Courtesy of Lin Nan

By Wang Yufeng

Wearing a sparkling fishtail, Zheng Yingying glides near a shark in an 8-meter deep aquarium. Sea turtles and other aquatic creatures weave in and out of the coral as Zheng swims in an underwater garden that could not be further removed from the steel and concrete jungle of Shanghai.

Zheng is not the only mermaid who performs in marine parks around Shanghai. In their specially designed mermaid costumes, they entertain children and adults alike. However their jobs entail more than just living an underwater fantasy.
 

Under the sea

"They entertain visitors at weekends and holidays, which has attracted people of all ages," said Lin Nan, a representative of Changfeng Ocean World in Putuo district. In recent years, many marine parks across China have begun to include mermaid performances.
 
While most performances involve the mermaids swimming around a tank and waving to the audience, the mermaids sometimes need to act out entire stories especially on holidays when there are more visitors. "I like to perform the stories, because they bring me a sense of achievement," said Zheng. One of the most popular stories she performs is a fantasy story where a mermaid princess fights an evil sea monster and escapes with the aid of magic.

Zheng does not use an oxygen tank as she wants to look as much like an authentic mermaid as possible. After she finishes a series of actions, she swims to the surface to take a deep breath and then dives back into the water to continue the show.

However, when it comes to a big performance, Zheng makes use of professional diving gear, including oxygen tanks and goggles, so she will not have to surface during the performance. "Thus, I can stay underwater for eight to 10 minutes, the entire duration of one of the big performances," said Zheng who usually performs twice a day on weekends and up to five times a day on national holidays.

Sharks and viruses

"When you are focused on the performance, you still need to be cautious of the sharks, which can possibly pose a threat," said Wang Juan, a former mermaid at Changfeng Ocean World.

According to Wang, the sharks are basically innocuous but if one of the mermaids were to bleed, the sharks could pose a problem. More than 100 sharks reside at Changfeng Ocean World including the whitefin hammerhead shark. Hammerhead sharks can grow as big as 5 meters long. "Sometimes when the sharks didn't want to eat at the designated feeding time, they would get hungry while we were performing," said Wang.

Wang told the Global Times that she also needed to pay attention to the water temperature. Wang swam in two tanks: the shark tank and the tropical tank. In the shark tank the temperature ranges from 18 C to 21 C while the other tank's temperature is from 22 C to 23 C.

If the temperature were to change even slightly, aside from effecting the sea creatures, it could pose problems for the mermaids. "The sharks may become excited and hot-tempered, which could push them to attack. Besides, if the temperature is raised, algae will grow in the tank, which perhaps can cause the fish to get skin diseases," said Wang.

According to Dai Xiaojie, a professor of marine biology at Shanghai Ocean University, there is no connection between algae and skin diseases on fish.

However, he does feel that a change in temperature can cause certain behavior in sea creatures. "Sea creatures living in the wild can adapt to different temperatures, because temperatures change as seasons change. But those living in a tank have become accustomed to fixed temperatures. If the temperature is raised the fish may become excited," said Dai.

As she is submerged in saltwater for long periods of time, Zheng said she sometimes suffers from skin problems. Although she is aware of the risks, the 21-year-old is not concerned about her skin but is more worried about her overall health.

Zheng once worked when she had a cold, which caused unbearable pain in her sinuses. "I worried my ears would also become inflamed, I was scared the water would aggravate my condition," said Zheng. 

"When you are underwater, it is just like taking a plane," said Dr Chen Xiaoping from the ear, nose and throat department of Shanghai Pudong New Area Gongli Hospital. "Many people will feel uncomfortable because of the pressure the water brings; the deeper you dive, the more painful it is. Spending too much time underwater can also seriously damage your hearing."

To keep herself fit, Zheng runs every day to improve her lung capacity, and also works on her flexibility.

More than a mermaid

Sometimes Zheng also helps with feeding at the aquarium. According to Zheng, the most common food for most sea creatures is black carp and squid, but for sharks it is tuna. "We follow a strict regiment, we feed at certain times and are strict on the quantity of food," said Lin, a representative from Changfeng Ocean World, who added, "it is too dangerous for untrained mermaids to feed sharks."

Liu Xiaolong, who is in charge of feeding sharks among other creatures at the aquarium, said, "You need to have a diving certificate and wear a diving suit, which can protect you. If you feed sharks, you must wear anti-shark gloves, which are soft and flexible but made of steel wire, and not easily punctured."
Before Liu became a feeder at the aquarium, he had to train for three months and learn the habitual nature of the animals he would be working with. "It is important to know their habits, otherwise you could be attacked," said Liu, who feeds the sharks 1 kilogram of tuna twice a day. If he misses a feeding time, the sharks may become aggressive. Sometimes other creatures also lose their tempers if the workers are not familiar with how to treat them. Once a colleague of Liu's made a sea lion angry because of the color of her jacket.

When Wang swam she was sure not to wear cosmetics so not to pollute the water. The aquarium examines the PH and salinity levels of the water daily. Apart from being a mermaid Wang was also responsible for cleaning tanks. She used a tool similar to a vacuum cleaner to collect excrement which accumulated in gaps at the bottom of the tank. "It is very small, just like dust, it is not easy to clean it even with the professional tools," said Wang, who also administered antibiotics to the aquatic creatures to protect them from potential diseases.

Staff make sure that the water in the tanks is filtered every day, and change half of the seawater two to three times a week. "The water must be changed after a certain time to get rid of the bacteria, which could cause the fish to contract skin diseases," said Dai.

Mermaid material

Zheng was once a computer major at a vocational school in Luoyang, Henan Province. At the end of 2005 before her graduation, a local marine park went to her school to recruit mermaids. "I was chosen because I had a good figure," said Zheng, who is 162 centimeters tall. According to Lin, marine parks look for girls with good figures and strong abdominal muscles. "They need strong stomachs because they use those muscles to swim while their legs are tied up in a fishtail dress," said Lin.

When Zheng was recruited she only knew the basics of swimming. "It is not that important if you don't know how to swim, because you can learn," said Lin.
Before 2008, Changfeng Ocean World invited Russian mermaids, most of whom were professional synchronised swimmers, to perform. However, after 2008, they began to invite Chinese mermaids. "We wanted our audience to see beautiful Chinese mermaids as well," said Lin.

Wang, was chosen to be a mermaid after she was spotted at a dance party held by the company in 2008. At that time, she knew little about swimming. She started her career as a mermaid by learning how to swim. In only three days, she could competently swim and dive. "We dove to the bottom of the tank and fetched some sand to show we succeeded," said Wang. In her early days as a mermaid, Wang wore an oxygen tank, but later held her breath underwater. "We needed to hold our breath for a certain time, from 30 seconds to one minute, though we usually held our breath for 20 seconds for most performances," said Wang.

Wang's former colleague Tong Lin, who was chosen to be a mermaid around the same time, has quit her job and returned to her hometown in Liaoning Province. Though Tong's social insurance was paid for by her company, she enjoyed less benefits compared to those mermaids with local residency.

"Our salary was about 2,600 yuan ($396) per month, which does not go far in Shanghai," said Wang, who once dreamed of joining a professional mermaid team. Such teams are invited by aquariums for short contracts. "Their payment is much more than ours, but to be in such a team you need to be quite young. At 25 I am too old," said Wang.

Wang recently quit and returned to her hometown in Chengdu, Sichuan Province with her husband. Now a homemaker, she misses her mermaid days. "I felt comfortable in the water, I was happy to perform. When I am on land, I do not feel so free," said Wang.

Zheng does not want to leave her job anytime soon. "Water has become my close friend, I forget all my troubles once I dive into the water," said Zheng, who sometimes talks to the fish about her problems, as she feels they are good listeners.

The secret history of mermaids

Christopher Columbus reported seeing mermaids on his first voyage to the Americas, although it is likely that the mermaids were manatees which are native to the Caribbean.

Reports of mermaids go as far back as the 1st century when Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder wrote about women with fish-like skin called the Nereid. In the 13th century, Parisian scholar Bartholomeus Anglicus wrote about temptresses, which resembled modern mermaids, who lured sailors to their doom.

In 1560, Bosquez, aide to the Viceroy of Goa, is said to have performed autopsies on seven mermaids caught by fishermen near Sri Lanka. One famous mermaid is the Fiji Mermaid that P.T. Barnum displayed in 1842 in his Museum of Curiosities in New York. The mermaid was actually a taxidermic monkey attached to a fish tail. Mermaid hoaxes were common since the Middle Ages and were often dugongs (marine mammals similar to manatees) or victims of sirenomelia (a condition where people are born with their legs fused together resembling a mermaid's tail).

Mermaids had an image change in the 19th century through Hans Christen Anderson's story The Little Mermaid about a young mermaid who gives up her life under the sea for a handsome prince.

In ancient Chinese folklore it is said that mermaids' tears turn to pearls and their songs drive fishermen into comas. 

The last mermaid sighting was in 2009 in northern Israel. Where there were reports of a girl leaping out of the water and performing tricks. A $1 million reward has been offered to anyone who can prove the existence of the mermaid.