People in South China, especially Guangdong province, have great appetites and eat anything. Other people make fun of them, saying that they eat all two-legged things except people and all four-legged things except tables. They have a five-thousand year history as a "great power in eating."

Not just in southern China but throughout the country there are far more kinds of animals used for human consumption than exist in Japan. However, this rich food tradition is currently under threat and facing a challenge which is difficult to resist. On January 5, the Guangdong provincial government, as SARS again broke out in the province, named civets as the source of the SARS virus and ordered the closure of the market for wild animals used for human consumption.

The government tightened regulations over the trade in wild animals, including civets, last May after SARS-like viruses were discovered. Guangdong cuisine thus lost its traditional "wild" taste. However, last October, the government lifted regulations relating to wild animals for human consumption because it respected research which indicated that civets were not responsible for SARS and also took into account farm households which raise wild animals for food.

On this occasion, however, the government implemented the comprehensive measure of slaughtering all civets because of the view that they were the source of the virus. In adopting this approach, the government took into account the actions of foreign governments in slaughtering large numbers of cows because of mad cow disease (BSE).

Animal rights' groups protested strongly against the killing of all the civets but the voices of those lamenting the loss of the "wild" taste can scarcely be heard. Many regional newspapers were united in advocating that people should refrain from eating wild animals. There has in addition been increased criticism on the Internet of the enjoyment of the taste of wild food. At first, criticism was targeted only at civets as the source of the virus but people are now increasingly looking at the problem in terms of culture. They say that human beings should coexist with wild animals and be in harmony with them. Others say that Chinese eating habits should change.

It will take a long time to change long-established eating habits. However, the SARS problem, in tandem with developments in Chinese society, has triggered a move towards reconsidering traditional eating habits.

Chinese used to be proud that Chinese cuisine was a global phenomenon but they are now becoming increasingly interested in foreign foods such as Japanese, Korean, Thai and Western foods. In Beijing and Shanghai, there are at least one thousand Japanese restaurants. As a result of this globalization, rather than serving dishes on large plates, Chinese restaurants are more and more using medium or small-sized plates in order to allow people to enjoy eating a variety of dishes. Using sets of chopsticks specifically for taking food from serving dishes has become common and young people now tend to split bills. Chinese people used to cook or order more than they could eat and would encourage guests to drink more and more alcohol. This was a traditional practice at banquets which related to maintaining the host's face but this tradition has been fading in major cities.

Japanese friends welcome such trends, saying that, in China, it has recently become easier to enjoy parties as they are no longer so often pressed to drink strong alcohol whenever there are toasts.