(CN) In Guangdong, you are worth what you eat

[Guest guest]

South China Morning Post

http://china.scmp.com/chifeatures/ZZZZZM48ZED.html

Tuesday, April 29, 2003

by LEU SIEW YING

 

This month, a group of Hong Kong businessmen was taken on a tour

of a steel plant in Guangzhou and told it keeps a small zoo to promote

environmental awareness. http://china.scmp.com/map/guangdong.html

 

The " zoo " turned out to be a metal cage with a pair of sika

deer, which factory managers said are good sensors of air pollution, and a

few peacocks.

 

An outsider may mock the factory's slap-dash attempts to go

green, but such budding environmental awareness might one day save many wild

animals from cooking woks and salvage Guangdong residents' reputation of

eating pretty much anything they can get on to the dinner table.

 

Markets in Guangdong supply a vast array of animals for eating,

including owls, swans, civets, endangered pangolins and protected golden

monkeys, snakes, turtles, toads, dogs, cats and pheasants. Then there are

animals so exotic you cannot easily determine what they are.

 

The origin of this penchant for devouring the animal kingdom is

rooted in the Chinese belief in the curative value of some foods. But over

the years, wildlife cuisine has become a trendy and luxurious delicacy.

 

A pangolin that has been smuggled past wildlife protection

officers during a long overland journey from Vietnam can be sliced thinly to

dip into a hotpot, boiled for hours with Chinese medicine or braised in a

brown sauce. A meal of pangolin has to be ordered in advance and is

typically washed down with brandy or Chinese spirits in a well-appointed

dining room.

 

Serving such exotic fare is technically illegal, which keeps the

items off the menu, but lax enforcement means that at restaurants such as

the Sheng Yuan in Fangcun's food street, the staff still recommends their

wild animal specialties.

 

Last week, only days after a raid on its biggest suppliers, a

reservation clerk at the restaurant told a prospective diner that pangolins

were off the menu - temporarily. " This is a sensitive time. Call us again

after a while, " he said.

 

Those who have tasted pangolin meat say it is anything but

exotic.

 

" It doesn't taste any different from lean pork but I've been

told that it has an anti-carcinogenic quality, " said a taxi driver named

Liao.

 

Chinese medicine practitioners use animals including dogs,

monkeys, earthworms, centipedes, tortoises, poisonous snakes and pangolins

in their medications. Even China Wildlife Conservation Association

secretary-general Chen Runsheng will vouch for their curative value.

 

But Mr Chen thinks that eating a particular type of food in the

belief that it is more nourishing is " balderdash " . " It is all protein, " he

said.

 

Monkey and pig brains are believed to nourish the brain and dog

meat to keep one warm. Wild animals are adept at surviving in harsh

environments so they strengthen those who eat them, or so the reasoning

goes.

 

But eating wild animals may cause more harm than good. Mr Chen

said the origin of the animals is often suspect, and the meat has not been

inspected or quarantined.

 

Poachers, for example, trap swans by feeding them poison which

can then be passed on to humans, while some wild animals forage in badly

polluted industrial and agricultural areas.

 

Despite laws and the questionable benefits, along with scares

over the connection to diseases such as severe acute respiratory syndrome

(Sars), exotic fare seems to be as popular as ever.

 

The main draw these days is that it is a way to flaunt one's

wealth. The well-heeled and powerful often celebrate their good fortune in

posh wildlife restaurants like the Sheng Yuan.

 

" Years ago, we imported the gold dust fad from Hong Kong, " said

Jiang Haisheng, a scientist at the Guangdong Entomological Institute,

referring to the days when rich people sprinkled the dust on their food. " It

doesn't do you any good and it's expensive. Only the rich can afford to eat

gold dust so it became a status symbol. It's the same with exotic food.

 

" We have a twisted culture where people are judged by what they

eat. This is the result of exploitative business people. It's such a

tragedy, " he said.

 

Dr Jiang said eating exotic food was not unique to Guangdong,

although the practice is most commonly associated with the province. " In

fact, this is a tradition in the whole of southern China, including Guangxi

and Hainan, " he said.

 

Dr Jiang denounces the practice in modern-day China, saying the

human population has grown so large, it will threaten the animal world if

there is a huge demand for wildlife cuisine.

 

In Shanghai a few years ago, snake consumption was so high,

environmentalists were worried about the extermination of the snakes and the

ecological consequences.

 

But experts say that in the past two years, there has been a

change in public values, including an increased awareness of the

environment.

 

" Generally, I must say I see a declining trend [in the

consumption of wild animals], " Dr Jiang said.

 

" When I first arrived here more than 20 years ago, people would

boast about the exotic animal they had eaten in my presence before they knew

what my profession was. Now people don't talk even if they continue to eat, "

he said.

 

A wildlife market near Shamian Island in Guangdong, has been

relocated to Shijing, a 10-minute drive from the Huanshi Road business

district, where it is less of an eyesore.

 

The subject of animal eating has become so sensitive for the

authorities that a number of nutritional and animal experts declined to be

interviewed for this article.

 

Although laws have forced the consumption of wildlife to become

less conspicuous, the punishments are not severe enough to stop the

practice. Fines range from up to 100,000 yuan (HK$94,000) for poachers and

traffickers, 20,000 yuan for breeders, and 10,000 yuan for consumers.

 

The potential fines are overshadowed by the immense profits

being made. A China Youth Daily report in 1999 said the Xin Yuan market, the

largest animal market in Guangzhou, had annual sales of 100 million yuan.

 

This month, 4,600 animals, including 35 animals which can only

be traded with state approval, were seized at the market.

 

Mr Chen said the rampant consumption of wild animals has existed

because the wildlife trade is so lucrative and because profiteers play on

the Cantonese love affair with food.

 

He said Chinese wildlife protection laws, which were enacted in

1988, needed to be amended. " I believe the government will enact laws that

are more relevant. I believe that if a link is found between animals and the

Sars illness, it would galvanise the government into action, " he said.