07.24.08
Welcome to Dog Meat Street 狗肉街欢迎您！！！
“So tell me, do they really eat dog in China?”
I probably get asked this question at least once a week when I am back in the United States. To shed some light on this inquiry, here’s a short anecdote from my recent trip to the town of Yanji (延吉) in Northeastern China’s Jilin province. Yanji is located just 15 miles away from the North Korean border, and home to much of China’s ethnic Korean population. In addition to being known for its Korean-infused “cold noodles,” (冷面 leng3 mian4) Yanji is also the renowned dog eating capital of China. So much so that they even have a street called Dog Meat Street (狗肉街 gou3 rou4 jie1), where restaurants specialize in serving dog meat in various incarnations, such as dog soup, dog hot pot, or simply chopped up, stir-fried dog with veggies.
Being that I had come all the way from Beijing, and was now in arguably the most famous dog eating spot in the world, I had to give it a try. Along with two Chinese backpackers I had met along the way we found quaint, little, restaurant on Dog Meat Street which specialized in serving dog hot pot (狗肉火锅 gou3 rou4 huo3 guo1) and decided to give it a whirl.
A hot pot is a vat of boiling water, which usually sits in a circular hole in a table, constructed specifically for its purpose. A spicy base, and sometimes pork bones, are boiled in the water to give it flavor. Various meats, vegetables, and other miscellaneous foodstuffs are individually ordered from the menu and then dipped in the hot pot where they are cooked while soaking up the spicy flavor.
For our hot pot, we ordered lean strips of dog meat, along with some cabbage leaves and lettuce. As is customary of Dongbei (Northeastern Chinese) food, several cold dishes were served as appetizers, including fresh seaweed, pickled garlic, and kimchi. Once the meat had been sufficiently cooked, I dipped my chopsticks into the pot to pull out a thin slice of meat. (I had pictures of this, but unfortunately they were on my camera which was stolen in Dalian). It was brown in color, coarse in texture, and from my view looked indistinguishable from beef. One of my accomplices recommend I dip it in some hot sauce which had been brought to our table by the waitress. After dabbing the morsel into the sauce, I popped it in my mouth. The meat was lean and coarse, but did not have a flavor as distinct as pork or beef. The closest comparison I could come to was rabbit. It certainly didn’t taste like chicken. We finished the meal, drank a few Tsingtao’s, and retired for the evening.
So as you’ve probably already ascertained, the answer to the original question of whether or not dog is eaten in China is an overwhelming “Yes.” There is no denying that our furry canine friends do often make their way on to the dinner table in the Middle Kingdom. However, there is still quite a bit of misunderstanding on the subject.
“What kinds of dogs do they eat?”
In and around Yanji, as well as other areas in China where canine consumption is practiced, the dogs which are eaten are not the same ones which live side by side with their human masters. Most are a “breed” of dog commonly referred to in China as 土狗 (tu3 gou3), which means “earth” or “wild” dog. These dogs have been mixed between so many breeds, that even referring to them as a “breed” would be a misnomer. They are not cute. They do not give affection. and they will not sit, heel, or roll over. Rather, they are raised on farms, and though domesticated, they are domesticated as farm animals, not pets. While it is not completely unheard of for pet dogs to mysteriously disappear in the Middle Kingdom, the vast majority of dog meat comes from these special dog farms, not the neighbor’s back yard.
“If one is to go to China and not interested in eating dog meat, how can they be certain this won’t happen by accident or trickery? Is it safe to eat food on the street? How does one know that the ‘pork’ skewers are actually pork and not dog or rat or snake or some other kind of weird animal?”
Dog meat in China (like rat and snake) is a delicacy, and therefore considerably more expensive than beef, chicken, or pork. The main reason that most human populations eat the animals they do centers around economics. When human labor, feed, and space requirements are all factored in, it is far more economical to raise cattle or pigs for human consumption than it would be to raise dogs; You simply get more meat for your buck. Hence the lower prices for pork and beef, and the higher price for dog meat. In all likelihood, it would be much more plausible for an unsuspecting tourist to order dog and be served pork, than it would be the other way around.
“So, how common exactly is dog eating in the Middle Kingdom?”
Although dog consumption does exist in China, is far less common than the consumption of more “mainstream” meats such as pork, beef, and chicken. Much of this centers on the price, as mentioned above. Sure, many Americans would love to eat lobster three times a week, but because of its price, it is usually reserved for special occasions. Dog meat in China is the same. While not prohibitively expensive, it surely is not economical to make a habit out of eating it. Additionally, places like Yanji are by no means the norm when it comes to meat selection. In many areas of China, dog meat is rarely, if ever, eaten at all. Furthermore, as dog ownership has increased in China, so to has the amount of Chinese people who refuse to eat dog, mainly on the same grounds as Westerners—they’re our cute, loyal, furry pets, not our banquet centerpiece.
For those willing to try dog meat, you won’t have to go all the way to Yanji to have a taste. In nearly every major Chinese city can be found a restaurant where it is served. Just look for the characters 狗肉 written on a restaurant sign.* And for those who are not too keen on eating man’s best friend, there is no need to worry. Just go ahead and order your kung pao chicken. I can assure you, it will be kung pao chicken.
*Since dog eating is not especially common in most parts of the country, it is often specifically advertised as a restaurant’s specialty.
Liuzhou Laowai
said,
July 24, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Most dog is eaten in the south, not the north. It is considered to be a winter dish (according to Traditional Chinese Medicine on the Ying Yang principle, it is a ‘warming’ food.)
In Guangxi and Guangdong dog meat can be seen everywhere in witnter. We don’t need, although there are. special dog meat restaurants. I’ve usually eaten it at family homes.
maxiewawa
said,
July 24, 2008 at 5:25 pm
I saw a big sign on a restaurant in central 上海 that simply read 狗肉. I couldn’t read it. This was when I was quite literate in Chinese, and if I had read the sentence 路上有一只狗 I would have understood it immediately as “There is a dog on the street” but putting it on a menu somehow mucked up my brain. Context I guess. I’m sure if “dog” was on in an English menu most native English speakers would scratch their head and wonder if “dog” was a local slang for something, and wouldn’t realise that “dog” was actually “dog”.
My girlfriend once told me about a story: a nearby town employed a group of Chinese labourers to do some work. The town had long had a rat infestation, but by the time the labourers had finished their work and moved on, the rat infestation somehow disappeared…
Alex
said,
July 24, 2008 at 5:37 pm
When you are in Beijing, you should seek out 狗肉城 (Dog Meat City). I swear by their dog hot pot. It is particularly good on a rainy day or as a hangover cure after a night of heavy drinking. It’s just a tiny little hole in the wall, but it is always packed, so come early.
狗肉城
Add: 100m east of Hong Miao Lu Kou, turn north to the first Hu tong, about 20m/朝阳区红庙路口向东100米路北第一个胡同里20米路东
If you go, give me a holler.
Gabrielle
said,
July 24, 2008 at 10:27 pm
I ate dog when I lived in Fuyang. It wasn’t too bad. It tasted to me like a mix of turkey and roast beef. Walking down the streets sometimes, I would see a pictures of dogs in the window.
Anonymous
said,
July 25, 2008 at 8:30 am
I think Jiangsu holds it down, as far as dog meat goes, esp. Xuzhou and a couple small counties around it (incl. Peixian).
Xuzhou has great dog meat tacos, chunks of dog meat braised with star anise and cardamom and cumin until falling-apart tender, stuck inside flatbread still warm from the oven.
For big meals in the winter, we’d have a big plate of roasted dog meat– which should never be cut with a knife, but instead ripped apart with hands or chopsticks before serving– seasoned with nothing but a sprinkle of salt and lots of huajiao, served cold.
All the street restaurants in the winter and fall sell a lot of dog meat stirfried with peppers, and usually advertise dog meat with stock photographs of St. Bernard’s (one dog meat seller in Xuzhou had a cart with a still from Beethoven on it).
Marcie
said,
July 25, 2008 at 9:43 am
Hi Ben,
I’m moving to Shanghai to spend 4 months studing accupuncture on August and I must thank you for all the help your blog have given me about living in China.
Let me know if you need anything from the US (I’ll be leaving from there).
Jiang
said,
July 25, 2008 at 3:45 pm
We need another word for dogs’ meat, like pork for pigs’ meat and beef and mutton, to make us not feel guilty when we eat it.
Leben
said,
July 25, 2008 at 5:39 pm
I don’t have the exprience of eating dog meat .But I know they call it 香肉(savory meat ).I don’t think it is thatdelicious because I like vegetables more .
By the way , the explanation of 中国 is not likely to be Middle Kingdom . I heared from one of my friends that ” in the Ming Dynasty of China , the definition of 中国 is ‘ The country among thousands of countries in the world (万国之中的一个国家)’ .” And I think that is the real intention of 中国 .
Peter
said,
July 26, 2008 at 12:13 am
Thanks for the nice write-up, Ben! Sorry if I missed this, but what is the main reason for eating dog meat? If it is more expensive than beef or pork, what is seen as the benefit?
From Ben’s description, it doesn’t sound like it tastes better than either mainstream meat.
chriswaugh_bj
said,
July 26, 2008 at 10:21 am
Jiang, the words pork, beef and mutton all come from Old French. After the Norman Conquest, French was the language of government, and so the French words for those animals entered English as words specifically for the meat of those animals. Had the Normans been into eating dog, we would quite likely have a word for dog meat, probably something similar to ‘chien’.
Peter, notice everybody said dog is eaten in the winter? It’s a heating food, makes you warm. I’ve also heard some say it’s an aphrodisiac.
Benjamin Ross
said,
July 26, 2008 at 12:46 pm
@Peter
From what I have gathered (and I am no nutritionist, so take my information with a grain of salt), dog is actually one of the more nutritious meats, in terms of having a low fat content, definitely more healthy than eating pork or beef. Like Chris says, it’s also considered a warming food in China. Another explanation I have heard is that it is good for the stomach.
As for the taste, I didn’t find it particularly tasty, nor particularly bad…it was just, well…meat. I also didn’t grow up eating dog meat, and a great deal of one’s individual eating preferences is based on what was around when they grew up. I’d imagine, had grown up in China, occasionally eating dog as a delicacy, I probably would have appreciated it more.
jim
said,
July 28, 2008 at 3:21 pm
The other name for dog mean is call “36″ , “three six” in chinese .
one says “even gods can not resist the smell of hot pot 36
jim
W.D.Box
said,
October 31, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Good post, Ben. A straight forward, piece about dog consumption. Two points where I would disagree with your thoughts: Because the dogs are considered by you to be “wild” and raised on a farm, does not, for me, at least, lessen the emotional impact when discovering the eating places that serve dog. This is a betrayal by man of a domesticated animal. Secondly, my take is that you have not actually witnessed the carcasses of many dogs hanging from an outside kitchen and in the actual process of being butchered. Quite an experience, not favorable, I might add, for a lover of dogs. Nonetheless, you do add insight in an unemotional way to a habit that is now more peculiar to the Southwest region of China (where I am).
Beijing has in the past taken steps (fines) to end this barbaric custom, some would say, for eating dog meat.
CJ
said,
June 25, 2009 at 3:21 pm
That’s weird…when you see dog carcasses hanging outside, you think of barbarity, but when I see them, I think “delicious!”
Kirby
said,
July 21, 2009 at 9:38 am
@W.D.Box
I dont understand the double standard for not being ok with eating dog meat and being ok with eating pigs. Pigs are by all measures more intelligent than dogs… they just haven’t been incorporated in Western culture as “man’s best friend.” Why is eating one animal any more or less barbaric than eating another?
Secondly, I would caution against your use of the term barbaric… a highly loaded and culturally insensitive term to say the least. I would wager that many Chinese would find the European practice of eating rotting congealed dairy… which you white people call “CHEESE”… to be barbaric as well.
In the end, just shut up.
Melissa
said,
July 28, 2009 at 3:15 pm
I am a US citizen and have an interest in visiting China. However, I am a dog lover and have 2 rescue dogs who have their distinct personalities. They are smart, loving, and protective of me and my house. My vet said a dog has the mentality of a 6 year old. I do not think that killing dogs is ethical. I understand there are cultural differences from the USA and China. I understand that there is a history of eating dog meat in certain parts of the world. However, it does not make it right in my opinion. I have seen on videos of the Chinese dog market, that not all dogs are “wild”. Some are pets and stolen for their owners. They way they die are very disturbing. The crates they are carried in are dropped from a high truck. Their legs are broken or severely hurt. They are pulled apart, cut open alive, left to Bleed out, or starved or drowned. Many ways of torture to kill these precious animals.. Some are tied up and hung. Most seem to be big dogs like German Shepard who are so people orientated and protective of their family in the USA. My uncle who is a police officer, had a German Shepard dog with him for years in Boston, MA. These dogs were his best friend and companion after hours. Your comments on you experience with dog meat in China are non-emotional and straight forward and informative. However, when one looks at the big picture, I personally do not think it is ever right to inflict torment and pain on dogs, one of our most intelligent creatures. Melissa
Benjamin Ross
said,
July 28, 2009 at 10:03 pm
@Melissa
I appreciate your long, well thought out comment, and wanted to take a minute to reply on several of the issues you have raised. Firstly, I would disagree with your veterinarian that a dog has the intellect of a 6 year old. 6 year old humans are able to converse fluently in multiple languages, perform basic arithmetic, and solve complex problems (i.e. using logic to figure out where you have hidden their toys, food, etc.), none of which could be tackled by a dog. A good friend of mine has a 3 year old daughter whom I have watched grow up since she was an infant, and already her cognitive capacity is far beyond anything I’ve ever seen done by even the most intelligent dog. Even with a chimpanzee (the most intelligent of the non-human animals) it would be pushing it a bit to suggest they had the mental capacity of a 6 year old.
Interestingly enough however, when it comes to animals that humans eat, pigs have shown to be the most intelligent. When brought up as pets, pigs can be trained more effectively (and respond to more commands) than dogs.
As for what you have seen on television, it is always vital to put television reports in perspective. American TV tends to over-emphasize the sensational aspects of every day issues. Therefore, it is likely that what you saw on television is in fact real, however it is likely not a representative sample of dog slaughter as a whole. It’s just like how whenever I turn on the local news (which is almost never) I’m immediately bombarded with stories of the various Chicagoans who have been abducted, raped, and brutally murdered on their way to work. What I don’t hear about is the other several million people who had completely ordinary days without any major catastrophe. Animal cruelty does happen in China, but if we are going to use cruelty as a reason not to eat dogs, why not extend it to pigs, chickens, and cattle as well? Only opposing dog consumption would stand to undercut the defense other animals which animal rights activists would stand to support as well.
Again, these are only my views. I eat virtually any animal put on my plate, without thought or concern to how it got there, so I really have no moral high ground to stand upon when it comes to these issues. Thanks again for sharing your view. One of my main aims of this blog has always been to promote mutual understanding of different issues from a variety of cultural viewpoints.