<p>Cashing in on the euphoria of China's Year of the Snake, farmers in Zhejiang province are minting money by selling millions of snakes as they form a part of exotic culinary besides being the main ingredient of traditional medicine.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Zhejiang villagers build a serpent industry with output reaching 60 million yuan (about USD 10 million) in 2012, media reports here said.<br /><br />Sales of snake products increased by 10 per cent in 2012 compared to the previous year, Wen Aiguo, chairman of Wuyijun Biological Technology Co in East China's Fujian province, said.<br /><br />Aiguo, who started the business in 1997, has developed a comprehensive snake industry chain, including raising snakes, processing byproducts and developing snake-themed tourism.<br /><br />Snakes have also changed the life of Yang Hongchang, who is running a business worth tens of millions of yuan by raising more than 20,000 serpents in East China's Zhejiang province.<br /><br />62-year-old Yang has been Dubbed as the snake king.<br /><br />Some snakes, including highly poisonous vipers and cobras, are the source of medicine and food, while others form a part of the snake culture museum, state-run China Daily reported.<br /><br />At Yang's snake farm, hundreds of the reptiles squirm in dry ponds prevented from escape by 0.8-meter-tall brick walls.<br /><br />In 1985, Yang borrowed 10,000 yuan and started the then unprecedented experiment of breeding snakes in the courtyard of his house.<br /><br />After initial failure, he eventually incubated about 30,000 snake eggs and sold baby snakes for more than 80,000 yuan in 1987.<br /><br />"The news stirred the whole village," he recalled.<br /><br />Inspired by Yang's success, more villagers invested in snake breeding. In 2012, 108 of the 160 families in the village were breeding snakes.<br /><br />Most villagers have an annual income of 50,000 to 60,000 yuan and some earn hundreds of thousands of yuan, according to Yang Genmei, the village Party chief.<br /><br />More than four million serpents are now bred in the 0.9-square-kilometre Zisiqiao village, earning it the reputation of China's No. 1 snake village.<br /><br />In 2012, the annual production value of the snake village reached 60 million yuan and the profit of snake-made medicines increased 50 per cent compared to the previous year, Yang said.<br /><br />In Guangdong province, snake soup and snake wine are often drunk to boost the immune system.<br /><br />Poisonous snakes have higher economic value, according to Yang, because the venom is effective in curing certain cancers and can be made into anti-venomous serum.</p>
<p>Cashing in on the euphoria of China's Year of the Snake, farmers in Zhejiang province are minting money by selling millions of snakes as they form a part of exotic culinary besides being the main ingredient of traditional medicine.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Zhejiang villagers build a serpent industry with output reaching 60 million yuan (about USD 10 million) in 2012, media reports here said.<br /><br />Sales of snake products increased by 10 per cent in 2012 compared to the previous year, Wen Aiguo, chairman of Wuyijun Biological Technology Co in East China's Fujian province, said.<br /><br />Aiguo, who started the business in 1997, has developed a comprehensive snake industry chain, including raising snakes, processing byproducts and developing snake-themed tourism.<br /><br />Snakes have also changed the life of Yang Hongchang, who is running a business worth tens of millions of yuan by raising more than 20,000 serpents in East China's Zhejiang province.<br /><br />62-year-old Yang has been Dubbed as the snake king.<br /><br />Some snakes, including highly poisonous vipers and cobras, are the source of medicine and food, while others form a part of the snake culture museum, state-run China Daily reported.<br /><br />At Yang's snake farm, hundreds of the reptiles squirm in dry ponds prevented from escape by 0.8-meter-tall brick walls.<br /><br />In 1985, Yang borrowed 10,000 yuan and started the then unprecedented experiment of breeding snakes in the courtyard of his house.<br /><br />After initial failure, he eventually incubated about 30,000 snake eggs and sold baby snakes for more than 80,000 yuan in 1987.<br /><br />"The news stirred the whole village," he recalled.<br /><br />Inspired by Yang's success, more villagers invested in snake breeding. In 2012, 108 of the 160 families in the village were breeding snakes.<br /><br />Most villagers have an annual income of 50,000 to 60,000 yuan and some earn hundreds of thousands of yuan, according to Yang Genmei, the village Party chief.<br /><br />More than four million serpents are now bred in the 0.9-square-kilometre Zisiqiao village, earning it the reputation of China's No. 1 snake village.<br /><br />In 2012, the annual production value of the snake village reached 60 million yuan and the profit of snake-made medicines increased 50 per cent compared to the previous year, Yang said.<br /><br />In Guangdong province, snake soup and snake wine are often drunk to boost the immune system.<br /><br />Poisonous snakes have higher economic value, according to Yang, because the venom is effective in curing certain cancers and can be made into anti-venomous serum.</p>