When the Swedish ship Gotheborg finally arrived at the North Bund, Hongkou District of Shanghai, Dong Yijing, a volunteer sailor onboard was surprised to find that the elegant red dress worn by Chen Rong, the hostess of the welcoming ceremony, was one the young sailor had designed.

"I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw my work appear on the bank to welcome the ship," Dong, 24, told China Daily on Saturday.

For Dong, the journey from Guangzhou to Shanghai, the last leg of the Gotheborg's round-the-world voyage, ended up with a big surprise mixed with "pride and excitement."

As the chief designer for Korean women's fashion brand SSONN, Dong was recommended in August by media friends to take part in the selection of top sailors in Shanghai for the last leg of the trip.

She was picked by professional sailors and TV crews, becoming the only woman representing Shanghai to sail the ancient Swedish ship, together with some 70 Swedes and 10 Chinese.

"They probably believe I fit well with the needs of sailing on behalf of Shanghainese women, such as overseas living experience, strong communication abilities and a nice photogenic face,"said Dong.

Dong studied in Italy for four years after graduating from high school in Shanghai and obtained a master's degree in fashion communication last year.

She asked for 10 days of leave from her job as a designer, and flew to Guangzhou on August 15. After three days of preliminary training, she boarded the square-rigged sailing ship and began to live as a sailor 260 years ago, disconnected with the modern world at sea.

"At the beginning, you feel like you're living in a primitive society without the chance to use many modern technologies, but later you love to be a primitive," said Dong with a laugh.

During the 10 days of sailing life in the East China Sea, Dong said life became extremely simplified. "It is reduced to only labour and rest," she said.

Work as an ancient deckhand

As a girl who knew little about sailing before boarding the ship, Dong was dumbfounded to find that the crew used the most traditional manner to maneuver the vessel. "The difficulty sailing the ship was totally beyond my expectation," said Dong.

All 50 volunteer crew members from Sweden and China were divided into three watches, each led by a professional sailor.

The crew worked four-hour shifts around the clock, which meant every crew member worked two shifts, eight hours a day.

On each shift, the crew were divided into two groups: one to finish an hour of fire rounds, an hour of look outs and two hours at the helm; the other half pulled ropes, belied them to pins, and climbed the rigging to furl and unfurl the sails. They also cleaned the deck and heads.

Dong drew the worst time span for her watch: 4 to 8.

"It meant I had to interrupt my sound sleep around half past three in the morning to fulfil my duty; and also I had to work while others ate their dinner in the evening," she said, as if she still felt the pain. "In all, my shift time was totally different from normal life."

The tough labour she did on the ship destroyed the rosy picture she had painted in her mind of the "casual and comfortable life at sea."

"I had thought that a single rope could be pulled to raise the sail of the Gotheborg, but I was completely wrong. You wouldn't believe that there are hundreds of ropes onboard, with different ones controlling different types of sails," said Dong.

To her amazement, each rope has its individual name. "Those professionals know the name of each rope and its function, but as an amateur, I couldn't even remember the names, not to mention their individual functions," said Dong with a smile.What's more, ropes need to be pulled by up to 10 people at a time. "It's too heavy to pull the ropes for a girl. Sometimes, I pulled the rope all out, only to find it didn't move at all, which nearly drove me mad," said Dong.

Climbing the rigging is a common headache for almost every newcomer onboard. Fear is naturalupon seeing the steep rope-knotted steps on both sides of the three masts. The top of the main mast reaches 47 metres above the surface of the sea.

Afraid of heights, Dong insisted on not climbing the riggings at the beginning, but she dropped her fear midway and climbed to the top of the main mast, for no other reason than to avoid having others poke fun at her.

"A Chinese onboard always joked in public that I would not make any attempt at climbing the rigging until the last day of the voyage," said Dong. "This kind of insult irritated me and made me climb to the top."

For most sailors, the toughest job on the ship is working in the galley, the kitchen below the gun deck where temperatures are extremely high without any air-conditioning.But for Dong, it didn't seem that bad. "Maybe because I love food and once worked as a dish washer in an Italian bar," said the young woman. "Compared to the job at the bar where I worked for more than a year in Italy, work in the galley that was equipped with helpful machines was much better," she said.

"The (Swedish) chef played the music of Jack Johnson and Norah Jones, which happened to be my favorite. We've developed a good friendship through working together."

Rest as an American tourist

"I made a clear distinction between work and rest," said Dong. "When it comes to rest, I would try to enjoy every minute of sailing with the ship."

In her free time, Dong often took a casual walk around the main deck and the gun deck, clad in the bikini she designed herself and wearing a pair of sunglass.

Her behaviour was deemed by some of the Swedish crew members as "like a tourist from America," but Dong said she had no idea of mimicking the American style.

"I didn't mimic anybody, but did it naturally,"said Dong, who studied in Italy for four years. "It was just to show the modern features of Shanghainese women."

Dong brought six bikinis to the ship and wore them one by one to show them off on deck. "I like myself looking beautiful and hated wearing the dirty blue T-shirts during my free time."

Usually, Chinese girls are too shy to wear bikinis. Asked why she didn't feel shy, Dong said it was probably because of her experience living in Italy and, of course, her occupation as a fashion designer.

"During the four years in Italy, I often went to the beach," she said. "I got used to wearing a bikini to lie on the beach, enjoying the sunshine."

"Also in fashion circles, it's common for us to see models scantily clad or with nothing on backstage," said Dong. "I often dress scantily among others for my designing work, so it's not a big deal for me to wear a bikini at all."

The happy moments for Dong on the ship didn't stop at wearing bikinis. Many unexpected beautiful views also made her feel happy.

She remembers the first time Dennis Isaksson asked her to see the luminescent plankton on the sea surface.

It was in the deep night, said Dong, when Isaksson asked her to go with him to the bow of the ship.

"When I was still wondering why he asked me to go there, he used his hand to push my head down over the railing and let me see," said Dong. "I saw numerous luminescent dots floating on the surface of the sea, twinkling like stars in the sky.

"I never saw this kind of gorgeous view before and it was amazing," said Dong."As they floated with the waves, it was just like millions of stars falling down to the sea."

Dolphins followed the second day, said Dong. She caught sight of a group of dolphins swimming near the ship. Later on, she witnessed flying fish jumping out of the water.

Sleeping was another daily enjoyment. Biting an apple and facing the sky dotted with bright stars, Dong said, she often slept on the main deck, chatting with her fellow crew members.

Small talk about the handsome maley sailors was daily homework for Dong and her friends. "Once, around four o'clock in the morningt, when I was chatting with Karin while sitting on the yard sticking out from the railing, we nearly fell into the sea when we became excited talking about those handsome sailors," she said, laughing.

Sleeping became an important part of life."Every day, the basic thing we would do was to find a place to sleep," said Dong. Every inch of the floor and every empty inch of space in the lifeboats and even table surfaces became their haven for sleep.

For Dong, the most precious thing to be remembered is "the human contacts in the disconnected world at sea, where money loses its meaning and the most innocent part of a person is exposed."