Behind the lens: A look at Yulin Dog-meat Festival 鏡頭背後的玉林人

On the day of Summer Solstice, locals of Yulin, Guangxi province of China, celebrate the annual Dog-meat Festival with dog meat hotpot, lychees and strong liquor like it is another Lunar New Year and those who work in other provinces would definitely make themselves at home for this day. In recent years, this unique festival came under the spotlight of global media, not because of the merry atmosphere, but of the uncivilized tradition of eating dog meat. Who is to decide whether it is civilized of not? Locals' words may provide us new insights into how this cherished tradition among Yulin locals could also be looked at.

Because Everyone Else is Eating it too

There are several sayings as to the origin of this festival. I have asked 5 locals but none of them had an answer in mind. "I eat dog meat since I was little," said Mr Li, who is a truck driver in his 40s. After all, it is an old tradition that has passed down for generations. Who still care about the story behind? It seems rather like that people are busy holding celebrations, working for a living, and there is not a spare minute for this question. As to the sources of the dogs and the slaughter method, they could't care less about it. "It really doesn't matter" is the their attitude towards eating dog meat. One of the interviewees, who is the owner of an electric appliances store and does not want his name revealed, thought that being not a cannibal is already a great thing. While media are unanimous in the censure of the slaughter method like hitting their heads with hammers or wooden clubs, the hygiene concern with the source of the dogs as strays, and the cruelty of savouring their own pet dogs, the interviewees are simply not interested in these discussions. 

"Dog-mate" Festival: Does tradition ever change?

So, how do the locals think about this festival? The owner of the electric appliances store calls it "Dog-mate Festival" for the Chinese idiom "hú péng gǒu yǒu", meaning foxes and dogs are friends literally, and usually refers to one's friends being a pack of rogues. On that day, he himself has prepared lychees and pounds of dog meat for dinner at their store with family and staff. He admitted that, this year, the street was less bustling than before, but he whispered the liveliness of the back alleys into my ears. Indeed, two years ago, a similar dog meat festival in Zhejiang province was called off over pressure from both media and social media. None of the interviewees has heard of this before, nor has any following-up questions. When asked about cancelling Dog meat festival, the responses are unanimous: "no way" ; and only one of them wish this tradition could be abolished. Miss Chung, graduated from university two years ago and now works in car industry, occasionally helps in the dog meat noodle stall ran by her family though she doesn't eat dog meat herself. As to whether it should be banned, she revealed that "this tradition is rather meaningless. All cultures change through time and we are now living in a civilized society." I am not sure whether we are living in a civilized society, but it is an undeniable fact that our culture is led by the voice of media.

"I know nothing but eating"

Dog meat is a typical dish in Yulin food culture, which means locals do not eat it only on the day of Summer Solstice. With journalists from the world coming to Yulin on that day to report the story, as well as activists staging protests at markets, it makes me wonder how do these condemnation work on the locals. "I am an ordinary person. I know nothing but eating." is the opinion of Mr Li, one of the interviewees, on the media coverage and protests against Dog meat festival. He also added that banning the festival or not is not up to ordinary people like him. Another interviewee who works as a taxi driver have doubts about the effectiveness of the only one-day protest in a year and that she reproached the accusations with the fairness of the protests. "Why isn't there any protests against eating other animals like pig, chicken and cow?" However, though Miss Chung agreed that it is personal freedom to eat dog meat, she believed that progress takes time to change the deep-rooted tradition. In fact, when you click on the page for Yulin on Red Bean Community Forum on that day, you can find posts tracking the protests and journalists with countless comments. But it is worth noticing that netizens are generally criticizing the two parties, some saying that they, too, savoured dog meat after work had finished. As for the dog meat vendors, business seems as usual.

Speak up, that's where it makes a difference

Celebrations go on but subtle differences could be observed. Posts on Red Bean Community Forum report that vendors deliberately hide the character "dog" on signboards. "Officials know there is no way they can ban the festival because locals will eat it anyway, so they just give verbal reminders to ask vendors keep a low profile," the interviewed taxi driver, who is in her 30s, claimed. Some vendors also put the dogs elsewhere to avoid attracting cameras. I still remembered an interesting comment made by a local, "We are communists. If the Party asks us to stop eating it, we will definitely do so." Alongside with the celebrations are protests staged by animal right activists. Online video clips show that the protests are in small-scale, between 20 to 30 people, and peaceful, only that some save-the-animals posters hanged outside Dongkou wet market are torn away. In spite of the cruel and uncivilized image, people in Yulin do have another side. Miss Chung expressed her willingness to join the protests if it is better organized. Public opinion could never reach a consensus. Though it seems to be the government's decision as to cancel the festival or not, one is never to underestimate the power of the people.

Appendix: Zhou Libo and the Chinese dream

"Do you have freedom?" The answer from the interviewees are quite ambiguous, "We have freedom if we obey the law." It is like the freedom one have when living in the cage, you are free as long as you don't have thoughts of breaking the cage or telling others that they can be out of the cage. It is no wonder that they were unprepared for the next question, "What do you think of Xi Jinping's Chinese Dream?". After thinking for a while, they gave answers like "it doesn't really concern me". Then, what is their own Chinese dream, as a Chinese? The owner of the electric appliance store wants a better and comfortable life. His dream is kind of vague but he made a good point in saying "Xi's words are bullshit. Stand-up comedian Zhou Libo is the one who, literally, help us to achieve our dreams! Watch Chinese Dream Show!" He was so excited when he talked about that show and, at one point, I was moved by this great reality show that keeps the ordinary from losing faith.

六月中旬的夏至，亦是廣西省玉林市一年一度的荔枝狗肉節，對玉林人而言，這節日有如第二個新年，在外打工的玉林人都會回家過節。近幾年，中外傳媒紛紛跑到玉林採訪這個當地獨有的節日，然而，媒體的聚焦點不在濃厚的節日氣氛，而是在吃狗肉的不文明。文明不文明,誰有權作定奪?玉林人又有什麼話要說?

一. 你食我食，大家都食

荔枝狗肉節的由來說法紛云，問了五位當地人，也沒得到確實答案。「懂事以來就這樣食」是四十多歲當貨車司機的李先生的回應。反正就是幾十年傳统，大家似乎都忙著慶祝，也忙著生活，沒空細想其他。對於狗的來源、宰殺過程，被訪者皆說不太清楚，「反正就沒所謂」是他們的態度，受訪的一名電器店東主(不願透露姓氏)更言「不吃同類已經了不起。」媒體拚命追查的一些真相，包括菜市場以鐵錘、木棒殺狗，以流浪狗作貨源的衛生問題以及把自家養的狗宰來吃的殘忍，受訪者都坦言對這些不感興趣。

二. 「狗友節」：約定俗成改不了？

中外傳媒所關心的，玉林人不以為然，那他們又怎看這個在報紙及網絡上備受爭議的節日呢？電器店東主直言這節日是 「狗友節」，是豬朋狗友聚在一起的日子，他亦準備了荔枝和幾斤狗肉，與員工及家人在店裏晚飯慶祝，他亦指今年街道雖然熱鬧不再，但節日氣氛其實猶在，只是由大街上轉移到各人家裏。兩年前，浙江省金華市政府在傳媒及網上輿論的壓力下取消了當地的「湖頭狗肉節」，受訪者表示對這事不知悉，也沒人追問詳情。問及對取消玉林狗肉節的意見，受訪者的回答一致是「沒有可能」，亦只有一名受訪者表示希望取消，今年二十多歲家裏開狗肉米粉熟食檔的鍾小姐大學畢業後從事汽車行業兩年，不吃狗肉的她認為「這節日沒什麼意義，文化要隨時代變，畢竟現在是文明社會。」人類社會是否文明我不知道，但文化確實由大眾口味領導，而在這世代，大眾口味無疑由網絡輿論及傳媒領導。

三. 「我只懂食，不懂怎麼評價」

玉林人平常也吃狗肉，對於這件平常事招來示威及媒體報道，這些舉措是否有用呢?李先生指自己「只是平民百姓，只懂食，不懂怎麼評價，而且(狗肉節)取消不取消也不是由我們決定」；任職的士司機的受訪者則指「一年一天的示威，沒什麼用，而且平常食豬食牛又為什麼不示威?這對其他動物不公平」，但鍾小姐則相信「吃不吃狗肉是個人的自由，而要改變幾十年的文化需要一個過程。」除了訪問玉林市民，網絡上的民意也值得一看。紅豆社區的玉林論壇，是當地的高登，過節當日示威人士及傳媒在玉林的一舉一動均能即時在線更新，而網絡主流民意對媒體的採訪取蔑視態度，有指傳媒及示威人士收工後也大快朵頤吃狗肉，至於狗肉檔則如常做生意，看似一切如常。

四. 市政府的低調干涉與真實民情

果真一切如常?論壇上有帖子上傳了狗肉檔主把招牌上的「狗」字遮掩掉，受訪的三十多歲夜班的士司機稱這是市政府「怕了傳媒，明知干涉不了，明禁也會私下吃，所以作口頭提醒。」而部份賣狗肉的檔主亦只放幾條狗在店面，有指是生怕會惹來記者拍攝。亦有受訪者語帶譏諷的說：「我們是共產黨，共產黨說不吃就不吃。」話裏意思豐富，讀者可自行解讀。至於當日的示威行動，規模不太，約二三十人參與，從網上片段可見過路者與示威人士少有衝突，現場亦只見張貼在垌口菜市場門口的宣傳保護動物的海報被人撕破。雖然在報紙上讀到的玉林人是不文明且殘忍，但鍾小姐指若示威行動組織得更好，讓大眾知道示威時間、地點等詳情，她願意參與其中。民意永不會完全一致，玉林狗肉節會否取消，雖說由市政府決定，但個人的力量不容低估。

後記：中國夢，周立波替人民圓夢?

「你有自由嗎?」五位受訪的玉林人都指「不犯法，在玉林的生活還是蠻自由的。」不試圖去觸碰國家那道巨大的圍牆，這國度的確有一股仿似是自由的空氣在流動，容易令人沉醉其中。生長在這個自由的籠子裏，受訪者對「你對習主席提出的中國夢有什麼意見?」這問題顯得有點失措，全都表示「跟自己沒什麼關係」、「沒有關注」。電器店東主指自己只希望生活過得更好，這就是他的中國夢。「習主席說的都是空話，周立波的《中國夢想秀》才是大事，幫人民在電視上圓夢。」他激動的語氣，弄得我也有一瞬把現實與虛擬的界線模糊掉，為這電視綜藝真人秀的偉大而感動。