Public Durian Eating #3

We were back for our monthly party in Hangzhou, China, when we ran into some durian at a fruit stall. Hangzhou is one of the top domestic tourist attractions in China. Not many foreigners have heard of it, but it's an easy 1 and half hour train ride from Shanghai, and they've got a nice lake, hills to hike, tea plantations, and an enormous Buddhist temple to gander at. Marco Polo -- that hyperbolic nutcase -- once called Hangzhou the most amazing city in the world, and scores of old school Chinese poets penned odes to the lake. They should have penned odes to my favorite fruit, durian.

Oh Durian!



Me and my boys Zig Zag, a live electro band based in Beijing, found the durian, Joey Gu from Phogger took the pics.


Checking out the durian -- does it smell ??


People on elevator not too happy about the durian stink.


We cracked open the durian by smacking it on the pavement, very cavemen-like, rawww!



Then the durian was passed around -- either turned away in disgust, or eaten with lust and passion...



















Thanks to the Joy Luck Club of Hangzhou for letting us make a mess.



What's this all about? Check out Public Durian Enemy #1 and Durian Eating #2.

[Random Rant:] For some totally bizarre reason, they only have Bud Ice beer on the train. Who drinks this stuff?

Guangdong Girl Saves Cats

We meant to post this a while back, it's from December 2008, but we were busy eating placenta, and durian.

There's a saying in Chinese, that Guangdong people (Cantonese) eat everything with legs except the table. You see, people in Guangdong have a reputation for eating weird animals. Like dogs and cats and monkeys and snakes and lizards. A lot of northern Chinese people believe southerners eat aborted fetuses -- yes, I've heard it many times -- it's a hoax people! (If you're curious about this, there's a discussion here about how the Christian media went bonkers reporting about Chinese eating human fetuses. Oh Lordy!...)

So there's this girl in Guangdong Province, southern China, who is trying to save cats. She thinks her own people "lose face" by eating cute kittens. The photos and comments on the China Smack post are pretty interesting, you don't see this kind of action in China often.

She's not the only one, there seems to be a cat-saving movement.

We have to hand it to this girl for stepping up as a leader like this, quite impressive considering what she's up against. But the question begs to be answered, again -- why cats?

UPDATE: June 29, 2009 -- More cat saving action...
300 cats rescued from menus in Guangdong

Would someone please explain the logic behind this? The cages that hold chickens, ducks, pigs, etc. are no more pleasant, and the treatment of the animals no better. The restaurant across the street from my home has snakes in cages, right out on public display, but I don't see anyone protesting and letting the snakes free.
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