Day 112 Yangshuo CONT...

 

Tonight we venture into Yangshuo for a tourist take on cormorant fishing. All starts well as we board our boat and motor up the river a little way in the darkness, overshadowed by the beautiful and now illuminated Karst peaks in the background.

 

Cormorant fishing is a tradition that dates back hundreds of years in China. The birds are taken by the fisherman at a young age and become bonded to him. They catch fish according to natural instincts but are prevented from swallowing all but the smallest fish by a ring placed around their neck during the fishing. The cormorants normally return to the bamboo raft when their throat is full. Sometimes the fisherman needs to hook them up by the short length of string attached to one leg for that purpose. The fisherman tend to work at dusk, using lanterns to attract the fish. 

They beat the water with the pole of their bamboo raft to scare fish out of any weeds, making them easier prey for the cormorants. They can manage to take quite large fish - even up to about 30cm in length.

Any cormorant fishing show usually ends with a demonstration of the fish being swallowed and returned, and with an opportunity for you to have your photograph taken with the birds (for extra money, of course.)

 

 

All was fine and dandy until one naughty bird bit the fisherman, drawing blood, the fisherman was understandably quite cross! However, we were left with more than a fishy taste in the mouth as we witness the ill treatment of this particular bird - obviously to teach it a lesson - but leaving the girls distraught.

 

Following this and other equally distressing "animal" episodes throughout our China stay - Tiegan would like to try being veggie for a while - what with cormorant cruelty, steaming bowls of tripe and "elbow and donkey sauce" - who can blame her?!