People in the village of Zisiqiao in Zhejiang Province, eastern China, have had more than 40 years of snake farming. More than 80% of the villagers participate in this special industry. The South China Morning Post has an interesting reportage here.

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Zisiqiao village workers in China feed millions of snakes each year to supply raw materials for traditional Chinese medicine.

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Snake soaked wine is on display at Yang Farong snake farm in Zisiqiao village.The wines here are very diverse and advertised with good health effects.

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Yang Xiaoxia, a Chinese medical university graduate, placed a plastic bag containing a snake that is laying eggs in a sand-covered room - the ideal breeding ground for the reptile.

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Snake eggs are covered with sand to incubate at Yang Farong snake farm in Zisiqiao village.

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A snake Mandarinus Euprepiophis (often called Chinese rat snake) is crawling up a cluster of lotus water in the pond.

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Yang Xiaoxia checks the quality of snake eggs at the family's solid farm.

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Snake Trimeresurus stejnegeri (commonly called Chinese green snake) crawls on bamboo culms.

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Yang Hongchang, nicknamed "snake king" , took pictures with an Euprepiophis mandarin snake.

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A curled, dried snake specimen is displayed in the village of Zisiqiao.

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Although some villagers have switched to fish farming or weaving silk scarves, snake trade is still the most popular occupation in Zisiqiao.

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All snakes are usually pulverized or mixed with alcohol to process drugs to remedy skin inflammation, joint pain .

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While snakes have long played an important role in traditional Chinese medicine industry since ancient times, new products made from snakes such as jewelry, fashion towels . are also increasingly develope.

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Some villagers Zisiqiao are now worried about the development of this industry, especially for the environment and social issues.