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Ophelia
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remember, when Gulliver traveled....
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every dog has his day
no chowing on chow chow in Beijing
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Posted 7/11/08 10:35 AM  |
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Kara
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Re: every dog has his day
I have to say, in the three times I've been to China, I never saw dog on the menu. (And I was not going to tourist traps -- most often I was with locals who took us to local places.) I've seen donkey, eel, and some other interesting things, but never dog. I wonder if it was on the menus that didn't have english translations and our hosts just didn't translate those dishes for us...
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| Posted 7/11/08 10:57 AM |
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Ophelia
she's baaccckkkk ;)
Member since 5/06 23378 total posts
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remember, when Gulliver traveled....
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Re: every dog has his day
Posted by Kara
I have to say, in the three times I've been to China, I never saw dog on the menu. (And I was not going to tourist traps -- most often I was with locals who took us to local places.) I've seen donkey, eel, and some other interesting things, but never dog. I wonder if it was on the menus that didn't have english translations and our hosts just didn't translate those dishes for us...
that could be.
they said too in the article that it's eaten largely by the korean population there...perhaps you just didn't go to any korean joints.
either way...I am not sure how I feel about this.
people have to realize different cultures do different things.
my Swiss friend LOVES horse meat, but told me he wouldn't eat it when it was offered on the menu at a restaurant we were having dinner at b/c I was there.
but I know that to him, it's NORMAL to eat it, so who am I to stop him (especially when he can't get it here)
I told him to get it and he did...though I DID decline a TASTE 
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| Posted 7/11/08 11:00 AM |
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Kara
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Re: every dog has his day
Our hosts ordered donkey meat for our table once (alone with eel, frog, and a bunch of other dishes). Being an equine lover, I nearly fainted and kept thinking "OMG, that's Pax and Joey's cousin!"  (Those are my horses) BUT, I didn't get offended in the least. I eat other animals, so I don't think I can really judge that they are eating donkey meat. There are plenty of people who wouldn't eat any meat, so who I am to say donkey is worse to eat than cow?
I couldn't bring myself to try it, but that's my problem - not theirs.
Honestly, the VAST majority of tourists in Beijing won't even go near any restraurant serving something like dog, so I think there are bigger things to worry about.
The last time I was in Beijing was in the winter of 2007 when they were starting to gear up for the Olympics. The government is extremely concerned about its image and is hoping the Olympics will help change the world's image of China. When I was there, they had a country-wide campaign to stop spitting. (Spitting in public is very normal and accepted in China) They had PSAs everywhere about not spitting. They also had English speakers come in to correct all of the English signs. (Some of them were so funny with their misspellings and less than perfect translations.) I understand that they are trying to make outsiders feel welcome, but at some point, the rest of the world has to get over the fact that other cultures are different! That's what makes the world go 'round!
Also... the poor public image China has is not (for most people) due to having dog on the menu, people spitting on the sidewalk, or poorly-translated English signs.
I really don't think they should have to remove dog from the menu... but it's one of many, many things the government is trying to do to clean up China's image for the games.
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| Posted 7/11/08 11:07 AM |
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Kara
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Re: every dog has his day
I just remembered that we did have lunch twice in a Korean restaurant the last time I was in Beijing. I didn't pay attention to the menu at all because I just asked for vegetable fried rice both times I was there. (I wasn't feeling well and wasn't feeling adventurous!) I'll have to ask the people I was with if dog was on the menu there... It's totally possible and I just didn't see it.
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| Posted 7/11/08 11:10 AM |
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GioiaMia
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Re: every dog has his day
I don't understand why they should stop just because visitors don't approve. No one would force me to eat dog meat if I went so what difference does it make if it is on the menu?
LOL do you think any of the restaurants in the US would change to accomodate visitors here especially for a short time?
And off topic , I ate horse meat in Italy, and it was DELICIOUS. I honestly thought it was just a "name" not realizing it was REALLY horse meat and it was yummy. I don't know if I could eat it NOW that I know though!
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| Posted 7/11/08 11:10 AM |
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Ophelia
she's baaccckkkk ;)
Member since 5/06 23378 total posts
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remember, when Gulliver traveled....
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Re: every dog has his day
as an aside, spitting on the sidewalk is also very popular in ChinaTOWN
yeah, what's the point of traveling anywhere if they make it like where you came from!
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| Posted 7/11/08 11:10 AM |
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Kara
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Re: every dog has his day
Posted by Ophelia
as an aside, spitting on the sidewalk is also very popular in ChinaTOWN
yeah, what's the point of traveling anywhere if they make it like where you came from!
Makes Chinatown a bit more authentic now, doesn't it> 
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| Posted 7/11/08 11:11 AM |
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GioiaMia
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Re: every dog has his day
Posted by Ophelia
yeah, what's the point of traveling anywhere if they make it like where you came from!
So true, it would be like stopping the Sicilian men from saying crude things to every woman that passes from age 12 - 82
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| Posted 7/11/08 11:13 AM |
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Kara
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Re: every dog has his day
Posted by Tilde
And off topic , I ate horse meat in Italy, and it was DELICIOUS. I honestly thought it was just a "name" not realizing it was REALLY horse meat and it was yummy. I don't know if I could eat it NOW that I know though!
Everyone at our table said the donkey meat was delicious, too. I just had a mental block against it. I actually did see horse meat on the menu the last time I was in Italy.
Horse meat is very common to eat in many countries. I know a lot of people who have had and said it's very good. I couldn't bring myself to try it, but that's just me. (for context, I might be the pickest eater on the face of the planet... I won't eat anything that came anywhere near a peanut either...) I don't judge people who do eat it, though, and I wouldn't be offended if they ordered it when I was there either.
Message edited 7/11/2008 11:14:24 AM.
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| Posted 7/11/08 11:13 AM |
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PegaLega
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Peggie
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Re: every dog has his day
 I could never eat that
But I guess they just want to make sure no one is offended, if I remember correctly its culture states to never disrespect a visitor into your home-that may be why
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| Posted 7/11/08 11:21 AM |
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GioiaMia
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Re: every dog has his day
Posted by Kara
Posted by Tilde
And off topic , I ate horse meat in Italy, and it was DELICIOUS. I honestly thought it was just a "name" not realizing it was REALLY horse meat and it was yummy. I don't know if I could eat it NOW that I know though!
Everyone at our table said the donkey meat was delicious, too. I just had a mental block against it. I actually did see horse meat on the menu the last time I was in Italy.
Horse meat is very common to eat in many countries. I know a lot of people who have had and said it's very good. I couldn't bring myself to try it, but that's just me. (for context, I might be the pickest eater on the face of the planet... I won't eat anything that came anywhere near a peanut either...) I don't judge people who do eat it, though, and I wouldn't be offended if they ordered it when I was there either.
The funniest thing was after I ate it. My family asked why I couldn't eat rabbit but I could eat horse? So I looked up and said "Wait, THAT was horse." We were at a feast and it said EVERYWHERE "HORSE" ( but in Italian of course ). But I honestly thought that it was just a name for some kind of beef - it never crossed my mind that it would be horse. My cousins will NEVER let me live that down!!!
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| Posted 7/11/08 11:24 AM |
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Kara
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Re: every dog has his day
Posted by Tilde
Posted by Kara
Posted by Tilde
And off topic , I ate horse meat in Italy, and it was DELICIOUS. I honestly thought it was just a "name" not realizing it was REALLY horse meat and it was yummy. I don't know if I could eat it NOW that I know though!
Everyone at our table said the donkey meat was delicious, too. I just had a mental block against it. I actually did see horse meat on the menu the last time I was in Italy.
Horse meat is very common to eat in many countries. I know a lot of people who have had and said it's very good. I couldn't bring myself to try it, but that's just me. (for context, I might be the pickest eater on the face of the planet... I won't eat anything that came anywhere near a peanut either...) I don't judge people who do eat it, though, and I wouldn't be offended if they ordered it when I was there either.
The funniest thing was after I ate it. My family asked why I couldn't eat rabbit but I could eat horse? So I looked up and said "Wait, THAT was horse." We were at a feast and it said EVERYWHERE "HORSE" ( but in Italian of course ). But I honestly thought that it was just a name for some kind of beef - it never crossed my mind that it would be horse. My cousins will NEVER let me live that down!!!
Awww
At the restaurant where they ordered donkey, the menu translated that dish as "spicy deer meat" but our host insisted that it was "spicy donkey meat' and the menu was wrong. Our host was fluent in English and Mandarin, so I'm going to believe him... especially since other dishes on the menu were translated as "the curry beef you ever had?" and "the dish perhaps you never had before?" with no other explanations.
It just looked like shredded beef when they brought it out and everyone who tried it said it was delicious. Had I not known what it was or thought it was deer, I'd have tried it. Still not sure why I have a mental block against DONKEY and HORSE, but not deer... but in fairness I didn't try the eel either (and most people don't think eating eel is all that weird).
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| Posted 7/11/08 11:40 AM |
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Kara
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Member since 3/07 13217 total posts
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They call me "Tater Salad"
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Re: every dog has his day
Posted by PegaLega
I could never eat that
But I guess they just want to make sure no one is offended, if I remember correctly its culture states to never disrespect a visitor into your home-that may be why
True, the Chinese are ver concerned with showing respect and making visitors feel welcome... and the cultures are very different. (In China, staring is not rude. I have freckles and one girl I was there with has RED hair. We were stared out the entire time we were there...) However, this whole thing is really a world-image issue. The government is very concerned about showing the world that China isn't as backwards, etc. as the world thinks it is. They view the Olympics as a chance to show the world that they are as sophisticated as the rest of the civilzed world... However, I think the government doesn't understand that problems the world has with China go a lot deeper than dog on the menu and spitting...
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| Posted 7/11/08 11:44 AM |
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MissJones
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Member since 5/05 22136 total posts
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Re: every dog has his day
Another plus for being a vegetarian...nobody can tell me my meat might be dog.
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| Posted 7/11/08 2:38 PM |
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