Think About What You're Eating In China

[GreenArrow45]

ha, the monkey thing is not something I have seen or heard about due to being in Taiyuan. It is actually something my grandmother had told me that she encountered in a more rural area of southern China (i forget where now), but she had a table that at least had a hole in the middle that looked to be usable for that. Of course, whoever sold her the table may have just been lying to her and she got her story from there - but, whether or not it truly exists, I think the way it has been described to me it sounds like a pretty horrific thing for people to do.

[roddy]

On the balance of probabilities, do you think that hole was for putting monkeys in, or some kind of . . pot . . perhaps a . . . hot . . . pot?

[Etwood]

When I was in Hangzhou last December, I went to that theme-park 'Song Cheng' 宋城. There was dog on the menu at one of the eating places. I specifically remember dog soup. I didn't indulge.

[Guoke]

I've been wondering if this is a typical laowai's mentality:

If a type of animal is eaten by both the laowais and the Chinese, it's perfectly justified.

If it is only eaten by the laowais, it's still equally justified.

But if it is only eaten by the Chinese, this is totally inhumane and a gross violation of animal rights.

:unsure:

[gougou]

I've been wondering if this is a typical laowai's mentality:

Have a look at this thread, in which a number of laowais commented, and count the instances of "inhumane" and "violation of rights" you encounter. That might give you a first hint.

That said, there certainly are those that will argue similarly to what you mentioned, but usually it is not defined along the lines of "you eat, i don't eat" but rather of how close to humans that animal is perceived in a different culture. Dogs in many Western cultures are referred to as man's best friend, so obviously for many people it seems weird, preposterous even, to eat them. Few people will complain, however, that Chinese people eat silkworms, for instance, even though that would be just as unthinkable in these societies.

[anonymoose]

If it is only eaten by the laowais, it's still equally justified.

And how many animals are there that are only eaten by laowais?

[Guoke]

Great! 2 points deducted from my 'reputation'!

So it's wrong to wonder...

OK. Fine!

[roddy]

Each member (including admin staff) can only give each post one point. To be honest I don't think you needed to wonder, you just needed to read the topic.

[gato]

Out of curiosity, I searched for 猴脑 on baidu, and it turns out that there are actually discussions about this and alleged pictures. Almost all the comments are in the way of disgust and disbelief. There is suggestion that this is done in Guangdong and that this might have been the way that SARS was transmitted. So there you go.

[liuzhou]

alleged pictures

Yes. That is the problem. The pictures are always alleged. No one ever actually produces one that isn't obviously photoshopped.. 

[anonymoose]

Here's a video. Enjoy.

[roddy]

Yawn.

Actually, should I just delete all the monkey business? It's silly.

[Guoke]

I think you should leave the monkey business alone, since the louzhu enjoys it so much.

[anonymoose]

Yes, do delete it. It's off topic anyway.

(And also restore the -5 rating Guoke had on his post.)

[roddy]

Six minuses, three pluses, I cannot tamper with the numbers. Well, I can, but . . .

-5 seemed a bit harsh, but I don't think drawing attention to it helped.

[xiaocai]

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.

At least you can raise and slaughter your own if there is really no one you can trust in China, and if you can't live without meat.

[Guoke]

-

[gato]

Look what someone got as a new avatar:

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/user/32-skylee/

[skylee]

she's kind of sexy, don't you think.

[jbradfor]

Given the context of this thread, I think gato was thinking "yummy" rather than "sexy".

P.S. How do you know it's a she?