Think About What You're Eating In China

[anonymoose]

I wasn't sure which forum to put this in, but I guess it's classed as food.

Anyway, I saw this advert in a metro station in Shanghai, and thought I'd share it with you.

[kdavid]

This is pretty good.

My father-in-law just sold the family dog to a restaurant for 400 RMB because this summer has been too hot. He said the dog was suffering too much.

I'm going to send him this.

[natra]

I know a lot of people in the west find eating dog to be inhumane, etc. Honestly though, I do not care so long as the the animal's living conditions are up to standard before slaughtering.

[GreenArrow45]

although I will never eat dog, i have no problem with people eating dog as i understand different cultures have different customs - so long as they aren't torturing the dogs or something first. What I do have a problem with is the Chinese people who eat the monkeys that are chained beneath the table with the head/brain exposed through a hole in the middle of the table as they eat the monkey's brain whilst it is alive and screaming in pain. Those are some sick people in my opinion.

Although, i do feel like such a table would be convenient for decorating an apartment.

[gougou]

I'd also much rather people stop eating endangered animals, such as shark (fin). As for dogs that are specifically raised for the purpose, there's not really that much of a difference to pigs or lambs, in my opinion.

[roddy]

Makes me think, not sure I've seen dog meat advertised in Beijing lately - have they actually managed to ban it, or is it just that I don't walk past the dog restaurant so often?

[xiaoxiaocao]

''What I do have a problem with is the Chinese people who eat the monkeys that are chained beneath the table with the head/brain exposed through a hole in the middle of the table as they eat the monkey's brain whilst it is alive and screaming in pain.''

Wow, they actually do this? Where?

[gato]

Taiyuan?

[gougou]

Makes me think, not sure I've seen dog meat advertised in Beijing lately - have they actually managed to ban it, or is it just that I don't walk past the dog restaurant so often?

I don't pay particular attention to it, but I'm pretty sure I've seen some. I think there's even one on 簋街 up towards 东直门.

Where they really trying to ban it? I only remember that temporary freeze for the Olympcis.

[roddy]

Temporary measures designed to make China look good? No, you must have that wrong . . .

Dianping lists 45 results for 狗肉, (including one under the category 丽人) but none for 猫肉. Not even if you pretend to be in Guangzhou.

Dubious about the monkey-brain thing nowadays. If anyone is actually doing that they probably got the idea from some animal-rights organization claiming the Chinese love doing it.

[Don_Horhe]

Objectively, a dog or a cat is no different from a pig, sheep, cow, chicken. In Germany they used to call dog meat "blockade mutton", before banning its consumption in 1986.

[wushijiao]

Objectively, a dog or a cat is no different from a pig, sheep, cow, chicken.

As for dogs that are specifically raised for the purpose, there's not really that much of a difference to pigs or lambs, in my opinion.

I agree. ;)

[adrianlondon]

Food wise, I'd like to try anything which isn't endangered or causes undue pain or suffering. So dog is something I'd like to sample. Despite all my previous visits to Beijing I haven't done so. Next time.

[roddy]

I'd love to know how you're going to be sure you're avoiding the undue pain and suffering bit - given that the dog supply to restaurants will be entirely unregulated and underground, I'll wager they're not even enjoying factory-farmed-pigs level of comfort. I'm afraid you, sir, need to go vegetarian when in China.

[adrianlondon]

Interesting point. But it depends on how much one believes an animal suffers in certain cases. For example, I eat chicken here in Europe but the cheap stuff is battery farmed. So I guess I'm at a tolerance for that level of pain and suffering (for the animals, not me! ;)

However, if the veggie food is all as good as the restaurant we went to twice last November then I'm fine with that, too!

[liuzhou]

There are still several dog meat restaurants around here. One about five minutes away from where I sit now.

It hasn't been banned. Someone suggested it should be and got a lot of publicity. That's all.

I'm also fairly sure the monkey brain thing is a myth. 

[bunny87]

that monkey brain thing is a scary, scary thought. I agree with the objective point of view about eating dog, however I just can't seem to bring myself to it (religious and personal reasons).

As far as dog meat in Beijing, there's the U-center next to the wudaokou subway station. Not sure if it's officially named "U-center", but it says that on the building. It has an arcade on level 5, and a nice supermarket below. Golden kiwi's must be in season out there now. Anyways, it's about 5 or 6 stories tall and lights up nicely at night, and on the 5th floor is a Korean BBQ restaurant. I saw some dog meat and dog soup on the menu if you're hungry for it, ;). I took a picture of it off of the menu, but never ordered it. I didn't notice much dog meat outside of that. But the bbq and all it's dipping sauces, yum yum...

[gato]

Could be true given what Greenarrow's already told us about Taiyuan. I wouldn't be surprised if he said that he saw people spit on the monkey while laughing and eating its brain.

[xiaoxiaocao]

I thought the monkey brain thing was a joking reference to Indiana Jones but nothing would surprise me here. Can anyone confirm that this does happen?

Just asked a couple of Chinese friends and they have heard of eating live monkey brains down in the south(surprise,surprise!)

Edited June 8, 2010 at 01:28 AM by xiaoxiaocao

[roddy]

People who've tried to verify it have failed. Everyone's heard of it, nobody's actually seen it. Find it on Dianping and I'll believe you.