Society

Chinese village bites into snake business

(Agencies)
Updated: 2011-06-20 13:10

A snake is seen at the snake farm in Zisiqiao village, Zhejiang Province June 15, 2011. Residents of Zisiqiao Village, also known as the snake town, raise over 3 millions snake a year for the food and medicinal proposes. [Photo/Agencies]

Rising demand

With rising demand for snake products from restaurants and medicine halls due both to rising wealth and a government push for breeding the animals to be used in traditional medicine, Zisiqiao villagers are now boasting a annual income of hundreds of thousands of yuan per year.

Yang Xiubang, 46, has been raising snakes in his home for more than twenty years and said his annual income has been steadily rising.

"The demand for traditional Chinese medicine is quite high in China," he said.

"After we finish producing the dried snake, most of them are sent to medicine factories. This also includes snake livers and snake gallbladders."

Yang added snake products from the village are currently being exported globally to countries such as the United States, Germany, Japan and South Korea.

Closer to home, snake products from the village are sold in the bustling Zhejiang city of Hangzhou, where the Hangzhou Woai Company offers a plethora of goods including snake powders.

"Each part of the snake is treasured," said store manager Gao Chenchang.

"China has a strong snake culture, there are a lot of people - like in Guangzhou - who like to eat snakes."

With such a special product, Zisiqiao's million dollar business is the envy of other rural communities. But Yang Hongchang said competition is stiff from other breeders who are rearing snakes on a larger scale than his village.

In addition, rearing the snakes comes with obvious risks.

The snake farmers said they had been bitten, some by deadly snakes, and were saved only by injection of anti-venom medicine.

Yang Wenfu, 55, gave up rearing species of venomous vipers after being bitten by one of them earlier in his career.

"After that, I no longer dared to raise vipers. I am still scared today," he said, adding that his arm grew hugely swollen after the bite.

"Life is valuable and making money is secondary."