The Chinese Palate: What Creatures Are Safe?

Try typing “why Chinese” in your search engine, and you will see that the third most popular search result is “why Chinese eat everything.”

Note that it used to be the most popular search result in late 2019 — the emergence of COVID-19.

Non-Chinese people even made a joke that circulated the Internet for quite a while during the pandemic. It goes like, “If it has four legs and is not a table, the Chinese will eat it. If it flies and is not a plane, the Chinese will eat it. And if it swims and is not a submarine, the Chinese will eat it.”

Now, give them a break. There are several valid reasons why China has one of the most diverse cuisines in the world. For one thing, being the third-largest country still cannot provide enough food to its inhabitants because it is home to the largest population in the world! The Chinese merely adapted to survive by eating any creature that moves.

However, despite being notorious for eating almost all sorts of creatures, ranging from insects to reptiles, they still give importance to some animals native to China.

Giant Panda

The national animal of China.

Giant pandas are bears with a unique black-and-white appearance that love to eat bamboo. They even developed adept climbing skills despite their chunky bodies — all for the love of bamboo!

Combine their laid-back temperament with their slow-witted personality, and you get a deadly mix of cuteness that can charm people the world over. Do not be surprised to see them make an effort to climb the highest point of a tree only to realize that they have no idea why they have done that in the first place and that descending the tree is no longer an option, too. So, in the end, they give up and take a nap as if it is the only solution to their predicament.

You can easily find giant pandas in captivity in animal preserves throughout China, like the Guangzhou Zoo. You can also look for giant pandas in the wild in the mountain ranges of Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu.

Red Panda

The lesser panda.

Red pandas are not closely related to giant pandas at all. The only thing they have in common is their love for bamboo.

I guess it should be safe to change the literal meaning of “panda” to bamboo lovers instead of cat bears.

Like giant pandas, red pandas are talented climbers, often spending their time on top of trees. But unlike giant pandas, they are experts in descending trees because they can use their long bushy tails to balance themselves.

The most notable thing about red pandas is that they stand on their hind legs and raise their forelimbs above their heads to look bigger and scarier whenever they feel threatened by another creature. However, I guarantee that no human has ever run away from them because of that defensive tactic. Look up “red panda standing” on the Internet, and you will see.

You can experience how red pandas interact with flamingos, gorillas, and, of course, giant pandas in the Macau Giant Panda Pavilion.

Sichuan Golden Monkey

The golden snub-nosed monkey.

Sichuan golden monkeys are not always as golden as you might want to think. They molt their fur throughout the year, depending on the season. For instance, they grow shorter brownish-grey hair in the spring and summer to avoid overheating. Then, they molt and grow longer golden orange hair in the fall and winter to provide warmth and blend better into the colors of autumn leaves.

At least, they live up to their namesake of having very tiny noses throughout their lives.

You can find hundreds of Sichuan golden monkeys partying high up in the trees of the Dalian Forest Zoo.

Much of the limitless palate of the Chinese has to do with their culture, geography, and history. It is not a secret that the people of prehistoric China used to hunt and consume giant pandas, red pandas, and Sichuan golden monkeys.

Fortunately, contemporary Chinese have little taste for these animals and have deemed them too precious to eat. Some would even regard them as national treasures mainly because of how rare they have become.

So, before you decide on going on a ski trip or a quick island tour or whatever it is, consider visiting these animals in China. You might even find them to be one of the cutest creatures you will ever meet.