The main source of beef in China is the native “humped” cow, called by the people of southern China Wong Ngau which means “yellow cow”. This native variety of humped cattle is a good beef animal, although there is room for a great deal of improvement by breeding for early maturity, greater size, and development of a more distinctly beef type.
§ 3. Water Buffalo Beef
The water buffalo, while chiefly used for draft purposes, is an important source of beef in China. There is very little difference in quality between the Chinese buffalo beef and ordinary beef. However, the lean meat of the buffalo is considerably darker in color than the lean meat in ordinary beef.
Young stock, up to three years old, that have not been used for draft purposes, are best for beef. Beef from buffalos or cattle that have been used for work for some time before butchering is generally tough, and less palatable than beef from animals that have not been worked.
§ 4. Sheep and Goats
In northern China, especially in the provinces of Shantung and Chihli, the fat-tailed variety of sheep is raised to a considerable extent, both for mutton and for wool. The covering of wool is light, however, when compared with that of the wool breeds, and this sheep is properly classed as a mutton sheep. They are so called because of their large fat tails, which are about three to four inches thick, six to eight inches wide, and eight to ten inches long. Fat-tailed sheep are shipped by rail and by boat to many parts of China from the regions in which they are raised.
The goat, while of less importance than the sheep as a source of meat, is raised in limited numbers in many parts of China for meat purposes. Meat from the goat is considered inferior to that from sheep.
§ 5. Poultry
The most common of all animal food in China is probably poultry. Many varieties of chickens, ducks, and geese are raised. Some of the best breeds of chickens for meat are the Langshang, from the Shanghai region, of which there are two varieties, the black and the white; and the Swatow, of which there are also two varieties, the white and buff. These breeds are large and meaty, individuals weighing from five to eight pounds. There is a number of other distinct breeds and varieties of chickens, which, while they are not as good for meat as the above, due to their smaller size, are used extensively for food.
In the region of Canton, the common variety of chickens used for meat, and also for egg production, is a small buff-colored variety, generally more or less mixed with other varieties. This variety, which is called wong kai (黃雞) by the Cantonese, is becoming very popular in the Philippine Islands, where it is called the “Cantonese” chicken because of its introduction from Canton.