conditions have improved dramatically in China. There is actually a middle class and a non-government affiliated upper class now.



The markets have plenty of fish, beef, chicken, duck, pork and mutton for sale. All sorts of vegetables, fruits, flour, rice, cooking oil...all the essentials are in good supply.



There is no real reason for them to eat turtles, snakes, rats, dogs, etc..according to OUR standards. However, our standards don't apply in China. There's a lot of things that we eat that the Chinese won't eat.



Much of the attitude (and eating habits) of Asian countries such as China come from times when food WAS scarce and you ate what you could get your hands on. If you do that long enough, some of those things are going to become "traditional foods" and delicacies.



They actually have farms where they raise frogs, turtles, crawfish, etc. for human consumption, both in China and for export.



In the countryside of China, almost every species of wildlife would be considered endangered if it were in the U.S. If you are a bird, you need to be in high gear everywhere you go. I'm not so sure that we can really blame the people for that, though. When you understand how the government under Chairman Mao operated, you'll understand why the people were starving. A starving person will eat what he can find. Period. That applies if he's Chinese, Yugoslavian, American or whatever. When conditions are like that, there will naturally be a lot of pressure on the wildlife.

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