Travelling to China to eat snake
Oarabile Mosikare | Friday August 12, 2016 16:17
The Chinese will never starve. Unlike Africans they are not choosy. They eat almost everything. If something is poisonous, the Chinese remove the poison and enjoy the delicacy. That is why snake delicacy is not frowned upon in China. It is only the Africans who think snake is not food.
Africa is always in the news for negative things. They feature in news items starving to death. You will never see the Chinese starving. This is because there is plenty to eat in China. Gape Ma-China gaba mabela. This nation works very hard and eats very hard. These 1.3 billion people do not sleep. They work like ants hence they are great.
This is what I experienced last month when I visited Beijing. Forget about the pollution that is a source of worry in Beijing. Pollution has come with China’s rapid growth. But the Chinese are very enterprising human beings and one day they will find a good use for pollution and export the product to Africa and other continents. The Chinese do not sleep in their shoes, as a Motswana would say. They always think of big things.
I was part of the 14 African delegates attending conferences organised by the 95-year-old Communist Party of China (CPC). This is the party that has changed the economic state of China. After 100 years of the formation of the CPC, China will be the most prosperous socialist country. They do not depend on other countries for the production of automobiles.
Take, for example, the Hyundai carmaker that once set shop in Gaborone only to relocate to neighbouring South Africa after a few years. We learnt that in China alone the company sold over 1.81 million cars last year. I do not want to talk about the many jobs created by this company. They are even planning to expand to Africa.
Another amazing thing about the Chinese is their level of patience on the road. Traffic jams are the order of the day but there are no road rages. Motorists, cyclists and pedestrians exercise extreme patience on the road hence there are few reported accidents on a daily basis. And the road network is world class.
We also had the opportunity to visit the Forbidden City at the city centre.
This was the imperial palace for some dynasties from 1368 to 1644. We were told that the museum allows over 80,000 visitors a day and 20,000 to 30,000 tickets are sold on the spot. China does not need foreign tourists. During our visit the majority of visitors were from other provinces and it was their first time to visit the Forbidden City.
The guests also visited Changsha from Beijing by high-speed train. The Train G83 was travelling at 307km/hr for a distance that was about 1,200km away. Unlike our dinosaur BR Express, the high-speed train does not take hours in a single stop. Chinese people are always on the move and they move fast. After five hours we arrived at our destination and lodged at Dolton Hotel.
It was here that I tasted the snake delicacy. Few African travellers thought I was crazy. Poor Africans, they starve and appeal to other countries for donations when there is plenty to eat on the continent. I do not understand Africans.
They are extremely strange people who do not give themselves anything but are choosy. God provided plenty of food for them but they choose what they eat. Poor Africans!
Another tourism attraction we visited was the Great Wall. We had the opportunity to climb this wonder of the world. A colleague Thalefang Charles climbed this iconic landmark during his birthday in 2012. Climbing this monumental relic was awesome. Despite suffering from painful limps after the experience, I will not hesitate the challenge again in the future.
Another lifetime experience was visiting Shaoshao, the Bronze Statue Square, memorial hall and former residence of Mao Zedong.
The Chinese revere Chairman Mao as he is affectionately called. He is their Jesus Christ. Here at the Bronze Statue Square thousands of visitors brought flowers to Mao. The Chinese leader is revered beyond his grave. Likewise, thousands of people visit his former residence. The highlight of the visit was eating snails in Guangzhou.