More recently, however, my opinion of China has become more realistic. This ancient land is not the gentle civilised paradise I thought it was. Among disturbing aspects that have changed my opinion of China ( in particular the PRC ) is its lack of animal protection laws and its primeval attitude towards animal life on this planet.
Instead of sacred lives that we share the planet with, Chinese generally regard animals as a food source. They seem to have no respect for animals feelings of pain, fear, stress and other emotions such as love and affection. Their only concern is whether they can eat it.
They are a nation that eats dogs and cats. They've done it for ages. Many thousands of dogs and cats are consumed in restaurants and homes. It's big business. The dogs are often beaten to death and dog meat is as common as any other meat.
Every day countless thousands of dogs (many former pets) are caged, beaten, tortured, killed and butchered - often publicly. The dog meat industry is big business in China - also in Vietnam and Korea.
The city of Harbin in northern China has an attraction that denotes Chinese attitude towards animals. It's a park where visitors can feed live animals to the tigers. Tourists can buy a chicken, sheep or even a cow and watch as it's killed and eaten by a tiger pack.
Although animal rights activists are starting to appear in China - and brave souls they are - most Chinese still have a barbaric attitude towards animal life. Yes, there are some civilised Chinese now who have cats and dogs as pets but they are the minority.
There is draft legislation in China to stop animal abuse but it's been around a long time and could take years to approve - if it ever gets approved.
