The Rebel Faction

[size=6] Beijing's penis emporium[/size]

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By Andrew Harding
[/size] [size=1] BBC News, Beijing[/size]

</td> </tr> </tbody></table> Bull's perineum is also a delicacy

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[size=2]The illegal trade in tiger parts is a big problem in China. [/size]

[size=2]Campaigners say the species is being driven towards extinction because of its popularity as a source of traditional medicine. [/size]

[size=2]I mention this, delicately, to Nancy, but she insists that all her tiger supplies come from animals that have died of old age. [/size]

[size=2]"Anyway, we only have one or two orders a year," she says. [/size]

[size=2]"So what does it taste like?" I ask. [/size]

[size=2]"Oh, the same as all the others," she says blithely. [/size]

[size=2]And does it have any particular potency? "No. People just like to order tiger to show off how much money they have." [/size]

[size=2]Welcome to the People's Republic of China - tigers beware. [/size]

[size=2]Sliced and pickled [/size]

[size=2]"Oh yes," she adds, "the same group also ate an aborted reindeer foetus. [/size]

[size=2]"That is very good for your skin. And here it is..." [/size]

[size=2]Another "nutritionist" walks in bearing something small and red wrapped in cling film. [/size]

[size=2]My appetite is heading for the airport. [/size]

[size=2]Still, I think, it would be rude not to try something. [/size]

[size=2]I am normally OK about this sort of thing. I have had fried cockroaches and sheep's eyes, so... [/size]

[size=2]There is a small bowl of sliced and pickled ox penis on the table. [/size]

[size=2]I pick up a piece with my chopsticks and start to chew. It is cold and bland and rubbery. [/size]

[size=2]Nancy gives me a matronly smile. [/size]

[size=2]"This one," she says, "should be eaten every day." [/size]

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From Our Own Correspondent was broadcast on Saturday, 23 September, 2006 at 1130 BST on BBC Radio 4. Please check the [url="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/3187926.stm"]programme schedules [/url] for World Service transmission times.