Jumping Feet First Into Chinese Food
From chicken's feet to dog meat, Gavin Haines attempts to find out why the Chinese eat such strange foods. In doing so he ends up impersonating a chicken and stumbling upon a cormorant fisherman.
Online, July 25, 2012 (Newswire.com)
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LIKE many travellers Gavin Haines will embrace most of the foods he comes across, but in China he had one rule - no dog.
"I have pet pooches at home and it just wouldn't have been right; I'd never be able to look at them in the same way again," says the travel writer.
"Besides, the conditions these animals are kept in in China are appalling and I didn't want to support such a barbaric industry."
However, avoiding the trade in dog meat was harder than he anticipated. Not only were some menus down south dominated by canine, but some of the local attractions were off-limits to dog lovers.
"I was going to visit this market in Yangshuo but then I heard this horror story from a fellow traveller," he says. "It made for uncomfortable listening, in fact the guy telling me the story actually vomited at what he saw."
On a lighter note, however, Gavin's latest travel blog (www.gavinhaines.com) includes a funny anecdote about impersonating a chicken in a restaurant. He also explores potential links between China's eclectic diet and the Great Famine, which killed tens of millions of people between 1958 and 1961.
"It's awful how many people died during those three years and largely because of misguided communist policy," says the writer.
Whilst travelling in Yangshuo, Gavin also spent some time with the town's cormorant fishermen, who train birds to catch fish for them.
"If you want to know how they do it, you'll have to read my latest blog," he says.
His latest post is the forth post from China; is he staying there for much longer?
"This is my last post from China, I am leaving for pastures new," he explains, although he won't say where.
"I will return to China, it is a stimulating country full of contradictions; a place of natural beauty and manmade marvels; strife and happiness; censorship and expressionism. It will make you laugh, make you cry and always surprise you."
Keep track of Gavin's travels at www.gavinhaines.com and follow him on Twitter (@gavin_haines).