So I guess since you went through tough times back then, you can attest to the validity of the entire story? hahaha I still remember the route I took to pick up milk for me and my 2 cousins back when I was in 1st grade in China, and I don't recall any of us being in any kind of basketball/sports program. nice story, but chinese media is not what I would call 'dependable'. Makes you wonder about the discrepancy in yao's demeanor between the chinese and american media...
Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son. http://www.agrifood.info/Review/2002v10/Zhou.htm#_Toc19505960 Milk production/consumption in China, in 1980, was about 10% of what it is today. And if you've spent any time in China, you'd know it's just about non-existent even today. A majority of the Chinese population dislike the taste of milk, or any dairy product. In the United States, per capita milk consumption is about 600 pounds a year. In China, just looking at URBAN citizens (the wealthiest), per capita milk consumption is about 25 pounds a year. That's right, the typical Chinese citizen in 1980, according to all available statistics, consumes less than 1% (0.4% actually) the amount of milk that the average American citizen consumes. But you remember going to buy milk as a kid... Right. Ask your mom, and she'll tell you it was soy milk you were buyin', not cow's milk. Oh, and if you started reading the Chinese media a little more, maybe you'd learn a little respect for the modern history and present status of China.
LOL... son? are you even old enough to call me son? save this patronizing crap for someone else... Niu-nai (cow milk) and Do-jiang (soy milk) sound pretty different, I knew what I was picking up and drinking, I was in the first grade, not an infant... Not quite sure why you brought up the milk statistics. Honestly alot of chinese ppl are just lactose intolerant and like you said don't like the way it tastes. I can't finish a pint of chocolate milk without flatulating the whole afternoon. Hell, I bet the consumption of dog is alot better in China than in the US, but that doesn't mean dogs are hard to get over here... Seems like you're getting a tad sensitive just because I don't fully buy into this story about yao. And no, i still don't buy the part about yao's parents enrolling him in bball school just for a glass of milk. Sounds like typical chinese journalistic drama.
Either way, I know that Asian's don't like dairy or cheese. Hell; Any Chinese or Japanese menu will show you that. (And the cream cheese filled crab rangoon is wholly american)
Having 3 giants in one household would definitely put a strain on the income for a typical urban family in the 80's. That's like feeding 6 to 7 average people off two person's income. Fresh milk was not easy to come by and cost a sizable portion of income to drink it every day - it costed several yuans to subscribe milk for one person over a month in the 80's. If Yao's mother made 40 yuans a month, which was reasonable for athletes back then, it's definitely a big expense to buy milk. My family in a southwestern city couldn't subscribe milk as milk production was low and people generally detest diary products, resulting in low popularity of such service back then. People's digestive systems simply couldn't handle it. Some parts of the article might be exaggerated, but on the whole it's consistent with the 80's status. Quotes were given with references and some discription fits Yao's past remarks. Obviously the writer did some research instead of just pulling things out of his a$$.
seriously some morons need to speak for themselves and not for their whole ethnicity. a lot of chinese people are lactose intolerant?????? never heard of that ahole. fact, i'm much taller than my older brother. fact, my older brother complains how he never had the advantage of drinking as much milk as i did or as much nutrition. fact, my brother was extremely skinny until he went to hong kong and then the US. him gaining even more weight in the US. hong kong being more modern than the mainland china at the time where he came from had more food, so he added some weight there. but when he came to the US, he got fat. looking at a photo of him before and after from china to US. is really funny. it's like a before and after. from skinny to overweight. also, i've never heard of people eating dog in china, but i do know my brother ate snakes before. i personally am not sure the story on yao is true. especially since shanghai has pretty much always been a modern city. but the interview says yao came from a small town near shanghai, so it could be true that the place he came from didn't have much food. especially considering the guy is 7'6. how you're going to feed a giant like that. if you were like 6'0 at age 6 or something like that, and you were a growing young man with a big appetite and need for nutrition. it's believable that they'd send him to a basketball school. also you said you don't recall yourself being enrolled in a basketball program, are you 7'6 dumba$$? unless you're extremely tall, i don't see them accepting you. what i find hard to believe is your story, you contradict yourself. first you say: "I still remember the route I took to pick up milk for me and my 2 cousins back when I was in 1st grade in China..." and then you say: "I can't finish a pint of chocolate milk without flatulating the whole afternoon." how can you digest milk if you're lactose intolerant? and why would you be picking up milk if you're lactose intolerant? sounds like you're full of bs. also i don't get why you're arguing so much on such a pointless topic.
don't mean to get in between you and the other guy, just out of curiosity... ... could it be the age thing? either you're ignorant on this or we're talking about a totally different China... but the fact of the matter is ppl in China do eat dogs. i'll let the other guy to debutal you but this is mean. do we really need this kind namecalling. chill man.
There have been may studies that have shown that a large percentage of the Chinese population is lactose intolerant - it is the same for most of Asia, Africa, and other areas where dairy products do not exist normally in the diet. If you do not consume much or any dairy then you will more than likely be lactose intolerant, as it is not something the body needs or really is made for (since cow milk is different than human milk).
The reason "most" Asian people are lactose intolerant is because they don't drink milk, not the other way around. Since Asian people stop eating dairy for long periods of time because it is not available, the bacteria that processes it dies and therefore you can't process the lactose anymore. I'm lactose intolerant but none of my nephews and nieces that were born in the states are and they love milk. Its not a culture thing either because if it were available then you would have drank more of it when you were little which would make you like it more now. People's cultural food are based on what's available in the region. Americans eat alot of meat and dairy because there is alot of meat and dairy in America. Asians eat alot of fish, vegetables and rice because that is what is available.
Hahahahahha, you think I'm lying? I didn't become lactose intolerant until recently (about the time I entered college). Before that I could eat ice cream, pizza, drink milk, etc... Now I still can, unfortunately I just have to go to the bathroom pretty soon afterwards. Alot of asian people are like this, not just me brotha... I'm really not doing that much 'arguing', I just think the original story is slightly exaggerated, which apparently you seem to agree with. BTW don't insult me and call me an ahole/dumba$$ unless you actually know what you're talking about.
http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health/digest/pubs/lactose/lactose.htm "For most people, though, lactase deficiency is a condition that develops naturally over time. After about the age of 2 years, the body begins to produce less lactase. However, many people may not experience symptoms until they are much older." I didn't become lactose intolerant until I was 18, and I had plenty of milk/cheese/ice cream up to that point. "90 percent of Asian Americans are lactose intolerant." Note it says 90% of Asian-AMERICANS.
