During the awful famine in Shansi of 1876-1879 starving men fought to the death for the bodies of dogs that had fattened on the corpses of their dead countrymen.

Mutton is sometimes for sale in Mohammedan shops, and beef also, but it must not be imagined that either sheep or ox is killed for its flesh, unless on the point of death from starvation or disease.

And the beef is not from the ox but from the water buffalo.

Sugar can be bought only in the larger towns; salt can be purchased everywhere.
Beggars there are in numbers, skulking about almost naked, with unkempt hair and no queue, with a small basket for gathering garbage and a staff to keep away dogs.

Only beggars carry sticks in China, and it is only the beggars that need beware of dogs.