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When acting the goat is a good idea
By Tan Weiyun |
February 28, 2009, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ZHANGQIAO, a small remote village hidden in Jinshan's west, is gradually earning fame as "the Village of Goat Meat."
And Shan Shimin is happy that he is helping things along in the village. Even if each day from 8am to midnight, the 53-year-old man wields his knife, chopping, cutting and slicing as a goat butcher in Zhangqiao Village.
Shan had been a pig butcher for more than 25 years. But five years ago with the increasing interest in goat meat and more urban diners coming to enjoy goat meat, Shan and other villagers began to butcher goats.
"In the peak season, usually from October to December, we are butchering nearly 40 goats each day," Shan says.
The village's history with goat meat goes back 40 years to the 1960s when a local man Huang Zhiyun, who raised and butchered goats, started a shabby restaurant offering goat meat.
For a long time, Huang's restaurant was the only one in the village offering goat meat. In 1996 with the widening of the Xinwei Road and the construction of Jinshi Road, other goat meat restaurants began to open nearby.
These days, restaurants of all sizes are offering roasted, grilled, sauteed and braised goat meat, and they are thriving along the two sides of the Jinshi Road, the main street that traverses the little village. Many villagers have started raising one or two goats at home and selling them later to the restaurants.
Shan recalls the "goat meat rush" in the village this winter - "The nearby square was packed with cars, some had to park in villagers' courtyards."
The local government also saw the opportunity to develop the goat meat business as a way of increasing incomes for farmers. Zhangqiao Village, for years cut off from the outside world, has relied heavily on farming. But now the government senses a golden business opportunity with goat meat. "We have pitched a detailed plan to develop the goat meat industry in the village," says He Haijun, the deputy office director of the village.
According to plan, Zhangqiao Village will become the city's base for goat raising, butchering, processing, catering and selling over the next five years.
The project, covering 24 hectares, includes not only goat meat restaurants but entertainment facilities including fishing ponds, tea houses, parks and bars. Motels and souvenir shops are also planned.
In 2006, the local government invested 3 million yuan (US$438,607) to build a 0.5-hectare square and parking lots near the goat meat road.
"Based on goat meat, we hope to build the village into a tourist attraction," He says.
The village now has an 11,000-square-meter farm raising about 150 goats. This year, it will be expanded to raise 300 goats. And by the end of 2012, the number is going to reach 3,000.
"It's not difficult to raise goats, which don't need too much attention, only simple sheds and grass, so we encourage our villagers to raise goats," He says. "A goat costs 300-500 yuan which is quite a large sum for our farmers."
Last year the government registered the trademark "Goat Meat Village," and this year, a goat meat festival is to be held in the village.
"We want to build the Zhangqiao goat meat as a brand in Shanghai and throughout the Yangtze River Delta region," He says. "I hope the word Zhangqiao is the first thing that pops into people's minds when they want to eat goat meat."
And Shan Shimin is happy that he is helping things along in the village. Even if each day from 8am to midnight, the 53-year-old man wields his knife, chopping, cutting and slicing as a goat butcher in Zhangqiao Village.
Shan had been a pig butcher for more than 25 years. But five years ago with the increasing interest in goat meat and more urban diners coming to enjoy goat meat, Shan and other villagers began to butcher goats.
"In the peak season, usually from October to December, we are butchering nearly 40 goats each day," Shan says.
The village's history with goat meat goes back 40 years to the 1960s when a local man Huang Zhiyun, who raised and butchered goats, started a shabby restaurant offering goat meat.
For a long time, Huang's restaurant was the only one in the village offering goat meat. In 1996 with the widening of the Xinwei Road and the construction of Jinshi Road, other goat meat restaurants began to open nearby.
These days, restaurants of all sizes are offering roasted, grilled, sauteed and braised goat meat, and they are thriving along the two sides of the Jinshi Road, the main street that traverses the little village. Many villagers have started raising one or two goats at home and selling them later to the restaurants.
Shan recalls the "goat meat rush" in the village this winter - "The nearby square was packed with cars, some had to park in villagers' courtyards."
The local government also saw the opportunity to develop the goat meat business as a way of increasing incomes for farmers. Zhangqiao Village, for years cut off from the outside world, has relied heavily on farming. But now the government senses a golden business opportunity with goat meat. "We have pitched a detailed plan to develop the goat meat industry in the village," says He Haijun, the deputy office director of the village.
According to plan, Zhangqiao Village will become the city's base for goat raising, butchering, processing, catering and selling over the next five years.
The project, covering 24 hectares, includes not only goat meat restaurants but entertainment facilities including fishing ponds, tea houses, parks and bars. Motels and souvenir shops are also planned.
In 2006, the local government invested 3 million yuan (US$438,607) to build a 0.5-hectare square and parking lots near the goat meat road.
"Based on goat meat, we hope to build the village into a tourist attraction," He says.
The village now has an 11,000-square-meter farm raising about 150 goats. This year, it will be expanded to raise 300 goats. And by the end of 2012, the number is going to reach 3,000.
"It's not difficult to raise goats, which don't need too much attention, only simple sheds and grass, so we encourage our villagers to raise goats," He says. "A goat costs 300-500 yuan which is quite a large sum for our farmers."
Last year the government registered the trademark "Goat Meat Village," and this year, a goat meat festival is to be held in the village.
"We want to build the Zhangqiao goat meat as a brand in Shanghai and throughout the Yangtze River Delta region," He says. "I hope the word Zhangqiao is the first thing that pops into people's minds when they want to eat goat meat."
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