There are certain quirks that differentiate China from other wealthy nations. From their political system to ideology, things are a bit different in China. The Chinese people are no different – they have idiosyncrasies that make them quite unique.
However, it is hard to remain appreciative when said quirkiness causes irreparable damage to the global community. Experts suggest that the novel coronavirus was started in China because of their habits of consuming wild animals. One such animal is the Chinese bamboo rat.
Before the government banned the sale and consumption of all wild animals, tens of thousands of farmers around China were growing these rodents that were locally known for its nutritious meat. An estimated 25 million bamboo rats were domesticated for this purpose.
This is no recent fad – historians found records of people consuming these rats back during the Zhou Dynasty (1046 BCE ~ 256 BCE). The rodent is listed in Ben Cao Gang Mu, the most celebrated encyclopedia of traditional Chinese medicine. According to the book, these rodents are eaten by many and are known to taste like ducks.
However, this ancient delicacy did become more popular in 2018. Not surprisingly, social media was behind the the revival of this cuisine. A young duo from the Jiangxi province became a popular uploader on the Chinese video platform Xigua (Watermelon).
Calling themselves the ‘Hua Nong Brothers’, they uploaded video of raising, butchering and cooking these rodents in different ways. The channel has 3.9 million followers as you can see from the image below. As the channel became popular, so did the bamboo rats.
Moreover, the channel’s popularity wasn’t limited to the fringes of the internet.point 219 |
As the channel became more popular, the topic 100 reasons why you should eat bamboo rats began trending on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter.point 127 | (Access to Youtube, Twitter and other social media websites are censored and blocked by the Chinese government)point 222 | 1
Poor farmers soon realized that this could be a lucrative business. These rodents can be sold for up to $70 per rat when alive and almost $40 per kilogram when grilled.
What do you think about this tradition? Should their history and culture be respected, or should a line be drawn at some point? Share with us your thoughts on this story, and be sure to follow us on Facebook for more articles like this one.
Replaced!