Amid quiet overnight patrols at a local cemetery, a Hong Kong man in his 20s who braced for eerie encounters found more friendly animals than frights.
His lighthearted account circulated widely online as families across the city visited cemeteries on Sunday to mark the Chung Yeung Festival.
In a Threads post last Friday, the man said he had worked night shifts at a cemetery from 8pm to 8am, patrolling the grounds four times a night.
However, he described the experience as less ghostly than many imagined, with friendly animal companions leading the way.
"Honestly, there were more animals than people or ghosts, and they would even walk with you," he wrote.
The animals, he said, took turns like a relay team—a dog for one stretch, a cat for the next, then a bird.
A senior colleague told him that the animals often knew the patrol routes far better than human workers and that newcomers could navigate the hilly grounds more efficiently simply by following them.
The post quickly drew praise for the animals, with users saying a walk with animal companions felt much calmer.
With many users asking about the job, the man said his duties mainly involved checking for damage that needed reporting and clearing the grounds.
He acknowledged, however, that living visitors occasionally proved more challenging to manage than the quiet grounds themselves, as some elderly visitors stayed well past closing hours.
Commenters quickly dubbed the position an ideal role for introverts, praising its isolation from office politics while inquiring about the salary and working conditions.
Another worker who spent more than half a year on a cemetery wall renovation project said conditions were perfectly normal, with people visiting "as if they were hiking or doing morning exercises."
He added that the only unsettling moment occurred when leaving after 7pm, when the only illumination came from green emergency exit signs.
Other social media users offered words of encouragement, observing that a clear conscience and respectful demeanor would ensure safe passage anywhere.
Among the discussion, a veteran who worked as a grave digger in 2008 added his own account, saying he earned a base salary of HK$350, with an extra HK$400 for digging a second grave in a day.
While most of his experiences were peaceful, he described unexplained sightings at one cemetery, which included white and black shadows, transparent figures and clusters of strange smoke.
