Maids of Shenzhen - 中国のメードカフェ！本当！

As frequent etchy blog readers know - because I lived in Japan for two years, I have had the opportunity to learn about the wondrous Japanese invention known as the 'Maid Cafe' ( blog and blog) and its derivative forms ( Butlers, maid foot massage and other cosplay related places).   多分あなた達も知っている：僕は日本に住んだ時からメード喫茶店に行った。一寸外国人メード喫茶店の専門ですよ。シンガポールと香港でメードカフェを見た事が有る。でも実は香港のメードカフェあまり良くない、メードコスプレが有るけど、メードの風全然間違う。サービスあまりない。でも二週前、ミオちゃんと一緒中国のシンゼン市までつれって行った。地下鉄出た時、新カフェの看板を見た。

In fact there are many maid cafes outside of japan, but to me, they just don't quite have the right feeling... something gets lost in translation (call me a purist, but its not just about maid costumes!) -- for example i went to one in Hong Kong's Times Square area, and was disappointed to find it was basically just HK girls giving typical (poor) HK service.... (while wearing maid costumes).

But two weeks ago when I took my friend Mio-chan to the Mainland China city of Shenzhen (深珍),  I was surprised to see this sight when we exited the subway at Dongmen(東門):

Hey, when did they put that there? I was just here two weeks before and didn't see it...  it couldn't possibly be, could it? コスプレ・カフェですか？メードちゃんが居る？

oh yes, it is!!!   Perhaps Mainland China's first maid cafe?!?　そうですね！中国の初メード喫茶店ですか？すごい！昼ご飯食べましょう！

Well we were going to eat lunch anyway... so might as well try it...

Actually from talking to the waitress, this place only opened like a week before.  IT was relatively large and featured a large book case full of manga and magazines to read while you're there. 

Actually it felt more like a modern Chinese cafe more than a maid cafe,  but the execution was pretty good as far as cafes go... 　実は大体普通の中国のモデルン風カフェみたい。漫画とマガジン有る。でも食べ物悪くない！

the food and drink were not bad either.

Normally in a Japanese maid cafe, photo taking is frowned upon... but since  This is China, anything and everything is up-for-grabs! :-P

日本のメードカフェで写真大体撮りません。でも中国で何所でも写真を撮れます！出た時ドアのメードちゃん写真一緒撮った。日本のメイドカフェでこの写真が５００円掛かる！

I should have taken more pictures, but I figure i can always go back.  On the way out Mio encouraged me to try asking the maid working the door to take a picture -

Wow,  don't they know in Japan you gotta pay like $5 to get this photo? :-P

The Verdict: definitely not as good as 'the real deal', but not bad. definitely enjoyed it more than the HK maid cafe...

the girls didn't have the Japanese 'maid culture' thing down, but they were generally pleasant and competent.  One key differentiation to mention- since this is China, there were like at least TEN maids working in the restaurant (not including the two working outside), so definitely they're taking advantage of low labor costs of Mainland China. (a typical japanese maid cafe has 3 or 4 max). :-P

外の面白事：このカフェで10人上のメードスタフが居た。日本の普通メード喫茶店中3-4人メードだけが居る。中国の物価とても安から。