Xinshi Town (Chinese: 新市镇; pinyin: Xīnshì zhèn) is a town in Deqing County of Huzhou prefecture-level city, in China's Zhejiang Province. Xinshi is located about 30 km north-east of the provincial capital, Hangzhou.
Xinshi Town's Zisiqiao Village (子思桥; 30°36′00″N 120°13′00″E / 30.60000°N 120.21667°E), nicknamed the "Snake Village" by the media, is renowned as a center of snake farming. The locals have been raising snakes since ca. 1985;[1] currently, about 800 people in Zisiqiao work in snake farming industry, raising some 3 million snakes a year. Live snakes are supplied to specialty restaurants; dried or preserved in alcohol, they are sold to manufacturers of traditional Chinese medicines; snake-infused wine is made as well. [2][3] Deqing Snake Culture Museum is a local tourist attraction.[2][4]
References edit
- ^ Chinese village bites into snake business, Reuters, 2011-06-20
- ^ a b China's 'Snake Village' seeks New Year riches, AFP, 2013-02-10
- ^ 世界第一蛇村：800人与300万条蛇的神奇生活 ("World's No. 1 Snake Village: mysterious life of 800 people and over 3 million snakes"), travel.sina.com.cn, 2010-10-21
- ^ 蛇文化博物馆可以让你看得“头皮发麻” (Snake Culture Museum will make your hair stand on end), 2012-05-07
30°37′00″N 120°17′00″E / 30.61667°N 120.28333°E