I ate the meat out of curiosity, plain and simple. I've always wanted to sample as many flavours as I can - I can honestly say that if it was legal and ethical (say a person had volunteered) and it was prepared in a good way, I'd probably eat human.
Somebody put it to me quite well whilst I was out there. If I'm all fine and dandy to eat the beef, the pork, the chicken etc. then if anything, it's hypocritical for me to exclude other animals on moral grounds. Not to say that I feel everybody is a hypocrite for not WANTING to eat dog and cat - naturally, people can feel weird about it when they have such a personal connection to the animals, but again, it links back to my curiosity.
As for the ethics, yes, it is the unfortunate truth. I saw some things out there which were really quite upsetting, but again, I had to remind myself - as Chrono says - that it's a different country with different ways. When half the country are living in absolute luxury in magnificent apartments towering above Shanghai, others are living in squalor, struggling to make ends meet. If they have access to something like animals, which will always sell well, they're going to take it and try to make as much profit as they can - ethics are the least of their concerns. Even then the meat was insanely cheap. One of these skewers was 20p. A fair price, I think, but in England that would be unheard of!
As for the noodles and dumplings - SOO happy you agree with me Chrono, although I'd me amazed if you didn't! You're right about it ruining noodles - I don't think I'll ever match it unless I return to China! Massive portions of noodles with such exquisite flavours were the perfect way to end the day.
