Changing Chinese Culture Essay

The Yulin festival shines a light on a changing Chinese culture. What is happening on the small scale depicts the reality of what is happening on the large scale. China is changing, and one of the most vivid examples of this change is how Chinese treat dogs. In 1980, Keeping dogs as pets was banned because having dog as pets was considered as bourgeois affectation (Peter). Also, because the government thought people should focus on improving their own lives instead of raising dogs and because raising dogs weren’t part of their culture because dogs used to be guards, herders or meals than companions. Moreover, keeping dogs as pet would cost a lot of money. However, Chinese restrictions were loosened in the 1990s and early 2000. In 2003 Chinese were allowed to own dogs (Peter).

Dog lovers are a relatively new breed in China. In 2012, China had more than one million registered pet dogs and thousands of others are unlicensed (Peter). There are many reasons why the idea of having dogs have changed recently. The First reason is because the improvement in the economy changed people’s life. Chinese can now seek out what Western consumers have long enjoyed: cars, flat-screen TVs

and, owning pets. For example, a woman from Xi’an a city west of Beijing, paid four million renminbi which is 600,000$ roughly for a single dog that was escorted to its new home in a 30-Mercedes motorcade ( Micheal).
The second reason is because as more people are moving into the cities and their perspective about dogs is changing. For instance, last year a park was opened for dog’s lover and at the weekend, hundreds of dog owners flock to Pet Park, a 29-acre canine spa east of Beijing that includes a dog-and-owner restaurant, a dog agility course, a dog cemetery and chapel, a dog-owner motel, an immaculate 600-bay kennel — and two bone-shaped swimming pools for dogs ( Micheal).
Moreover, because China’s one-child policy make people think more to have a dog to provide companionship to their only children and to fill empty nests in homes whose children have grown up (Christina). Recently, Chinese treats their dogs just like their children because they are able to take their dogs to the cinema and they put their dogs in strolls just like any other baby. Also, the law of dog’s protection has changed. For years, many Chinese people have been crying out in vain to the deaf ears of the Chinese government, begging for changes, but animal suffering continues. However, there seems to be a bright light at the end of the tunnel as animal caring people are spreading all over China (Christina). In 2010, China released new animal protection law that include the dogs used for entertainment and dogs that being slaughtered for food (Christina).
All in all, many Chinese people are believing that’s “dogs are man’s best friend,” just like any other Westerners community.

The change that happened in China is good ,but not only the government is responsible for protecting dogs, people must teach themselves how treat dogs well. The Dog Meat Festival of Yulin shows how Chinese people have different perspective about dogs. Some of the Chinese believe that dogs meet bring good luck and health so they should eat it. However, many other Chinese specially these days think that they don’t have to eat dogs. Furthermore, the idea of having dogs as pets has changed significantly in China. For example, in 2011, Chinese activists stopped a car transporting dogs to a restaurant and paid 115,000 yuan (then, around $17,000) to free the animals

(Christina).