China: We need to talk about shark’s fin soup

I have only been to one Chinese wedding, which was in Shanghai a few years ago, though I managed to miss the ceremony and only attended the reception. This was held in a Sichuan restaurant, the name of which I have long since forgotten, though after a big of digging it might have been Xinxianghui […]

WildAid: Fin market bottoming out

Sales of shark fins dropped by 50-70% over the past two years, according to a report by WildAid, with an 82% decline in sales reported by shark fin vendors in Guangzhou (the global centre of shark fin trade), as well as a 47% decrease in retail prices, and a 57% drop in wholesale prices. In […]

China: Shahtoosh, king of wools

Living on the high, sparse steppe of the Tibetan plateau, the Tibetan antelope – or chiru – has found itself squeezed between the lines of the economic development that brought railways and roads to Tibet, stabbing in from the rest of China. The Beijing-Lhasa railway threatened to split the chiru’s habit in two, creating a […]

Rhinos: Too little, too late?

With the demand for rhino horn being driven primarily by the Vietnamese and Chinese markets, conservation groups have focused their attention on campaigns directed at combating its use both as a stimulant and as a medicine. The above poster is also available in Vietnamese, as it is in Vietnam that demand for rhino horn is […]

Why does Vietnam love Rhino horn so much?

Rhino horn consists of keratin, the same material that makes up hair and nails in humans, and hooves in horses. Rhino horn differs from the horns of most other animals in that respect, as the horns of other animals are usually made from calcium. The exact chemical composition of each rhino will differ slightly, depending […]

Spilled Water

覆水难收

China