Treasure island with a twist

Wuhan castaways love desert-island life

Catering to the whims of Chinese TV directors, high-rollers and honeymooners is all part of the day's grind for Stacey Zhan, who is finding out just what it is like to live on a desert island in the Maldives, a dream destination for most tourists.

There is no alcohol available in this strict Muslim country, except for at the resorts' relatively expensive bars. For the most part, there is no spicy Chinese hotpot. And there are no luxury stores selling designer handbags, not even in the capital Male.

But moving to Maamigili Island was a crucial career stepping-stone for the 20-year-old, one of three hospitality graduates from Wuhan Polytechnic University who are just four months into their two-year work placements at Loama Resort in remote Raa Atoll.

"I had to take care of one guy from Jiangsu TV who was scouting locations for a dating show. He said he may return to shoot one of the episodes here," said the bubbly front-office staffer. She previously interned for a year with the JW Marriott in Hangzhou.

"A lot of Chinese guys ask me, 'Do you have poker or mahjong?' We also get a lot of rich guys who are like tuhao (nouveau riche). The Western guests think they are fighting, but actually they are joking. I just have to smile a lot. "

"Sometimes it gets really busy, like over Chinese New Year when occupancy was 110 percent," she quipped. "But we have worked in five-star business hotels before, so we are used to that. We work for nine hours a day, six hours a day, but it's pretty relaxed. We could work for 20 hours, no problem."

Her former classmates Ivy Fan and Candice Wu, both 21, serve as waitresses at one of the resort's three restaurants. All three hail from Wuhan, one of China's three 'furnaces' along with Nanjing and Chongqing. For them, the Maldives' tropical climate should be a breeze.