City hopes fighting birds can attract tourists
Print Edition
AFTER a fierce fight, Ismail Iblahim takes out his medicated liquor and prepares to give the champion a massage.
“This helps him relax,” said Ismail Iblahim, 60, while trying to soothe the winner ... a large black rooster.
The man and his bird live in Turpan in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, a city famous for its vineyards and hot, dry climate.
Turpan’s famed Flaming Mountains and its ancient ruins, Buddhist grottoes and other archaeological sites drew 5.12 million tourists last year, almost 11 percent more than the year before.
Perhat Kadir, a local government official, says close to 100,000 people, or about a sixth of the city’s population, are involved in the business.
The city has a long cockfighting tradition, and locals are hoping it will help them grab a chunk of Turpan’s growing tourism revenue, which reached 5.1 billion yuan (US$787 million) in 2015, a yearly increase of more than 15 percent.
Perhat wants cockfighting to become a major industry and tourist draw for the city.
“Just like Spain is famous for bullfighting, we hope that cockfighting can become a hallmark for Turpan,” he said.
Cockfighting has been an important pastime in Turpan for more than 280 years.
Unlike chickens raised for food, which mainly eat grain, game fowl are raised on sorghum, beef, walnuts, eggs and tomatoes. Fighting roosters are big and belligerent, with strong legs and cherry-colored cockscombs.
Following his father and grandfather, Ismail has been raising fighting cocks for 40 years. Before the contests, he takes his roosters out for a sunbath. After a match, he bathes the exhausted birds in water infused with Chinese herbal medicine.
Ismail is so well-known in fighting circles he is referred to as the “cockfighting tsar.”
“In a match, I can tell which rooster is going to win after only a glimpse at them,” he said. His roosters have won many gold and silver medals.
In contests held earlier this month, three of his roosters won their matches, two lost and five ended in a draw. “The results were pretty good,” he said.
He now works for Bari Hupur, known as “cockfighting Bari,” who has been organizing contests for 10 years. Bari has a big courtyard for hosting matches, and he charges spectators an admission fee and sells refreshments.
Ismail earns an average of 5,000 yuan (US$771) a month from raising and training the birds and his roosters are worth 10,000 to 30,000 yuan each.
Perhat, who heads a development team for the city’s cockfighting industry, said a cockfighting association will be established by the end of the year to promote the sport and draw tourists from across China.
“We are going to set up arenas in markets and bazaars to boost people’s interest in the sport,” he said.
He said that the industry will be strictly regulated.
“We will bring it into the daylight from underground so that illegal gambling is eliminated,” he added.
Not everyone is enthusiastic about the city’s new tourism strategy. Many consider cockfighting a form of animal cruelty, and the practice is not without controversy in China.
“The culture of a nation should progress along with its economic growth. Isn’t it crooked to seek pleasure from two creatures fighting, even watching them die, in front of you?” said He Yong, country director with the International Fund for Animal Welfare in China.
Ismail said it is hard to watch his roosters get hurt.
“Several years ago, a rooster fell ill. I brought him to the vet, who gave him medicine and an injection, but we couldn’t save him. I felt really helpless,” he said.
In a match not too long ago, a rooster he called “Black Chap” died after fighting for four hours. Ismail claimed to be heartbroken.
“I don’t want them to be injured either,” he said.
“Each time after a match, I take them to the vet.”
An official from the Turpan Bureau of Culture, Broadcasting, Sports and Film, who identified himself only as “Alim,” told reporters it never occurred to him that "sport” would cause controversy.
“I just hope that the traditional game can help locals improve their lives,” he said.
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