ABSTRACT
Within China, there were striking differences in meat and fish consumption by social class, region, and historical period. The wealthy and middle classes could afford much more meat and fish than the poor, whether urban or rural. The villages of the Rice Region (including Kwangtung) had a far greater intake of meat and fish than those of the Wheat Region (Table 3). Even so, the overall picture was one of very low meat and fish consumption. As various observers have noted, in the North China Plain except among better-off families meat was an infrequent luxury usually consumed only on holidays or at wedding dinners (Cressey, 1934: 173); for the Chinese peasant, meat, including that of fowl, was a feast dish consumed on the twelve or so holidays each year or on other special occasions (Winfield, 1948: 67; E. N.
