"Here, try it," says Zhaoran, a business student, as she places a beige-colored ox urethra onto her friend's plate. He's in the middle of wolfing down a piece of chewy dog penis.
A visit to the Guolizhuang Restaurant in Beijing is not for the faint-hearted. Here the menu consists almost entirely of penis and testicle dishes -- made from the private parts of deer, snakes, yaks, horses, seals and ducks, among others.
The platters have names like "The Essence of the Golden Buddha," "Phoenix Rising," "Jasmine Flowers with 1,000 Layers" and "Look for the Treasure in the Desert Sand." Are such flowery names meant to prevent guests from prematurely running off? After all, the "jasmine flowers" are made of layers of thinly sliced donkey penis, and the "treasure in the desert" is actually sheep gonads on a bed of curry.
"Chinese eat anything with four legs, except tables. And everything that flies, except airplanes," says Zhaoran, quoting a well-known Chinese saying. This may be true, but even in China a penis restaurant is unusual. The Guolizhuang restaurant opened two years ago on the aptly-named Dongsishitiao Street. Word quickly spread among well-heeled Chinese, and today there are five franchises. The chain is even expanding outside of China -- into the Chinatown in Atlanta, Georgia.
The penises are often dipped in soy or hot sauce. For women, eating penises is supposed to be good for the skin.
Deer Blood as Viagra
Lucy, a 20-year-old waitress, wears a traditionally embroidered silk shawl with images of courtly scenes and plants -- and a smiley sticker. Part of her job is thoroughly explaining the menu, as many guests are entering an entirely new culinary landscape when they visit the restaurant. "For thousands of years, Chinese medicine has used animal penises to cure kidney and erection problems," she says. But for their medicinal effect to work, the dishes have to be consumed regularly.
"But if you want something that works faster, we have a wine that contains extracts of heart, penis, and blood from a deer," she explains. "That has an effect within 30 minutes." This potency cocktail has been said to be better than Viagra, and it has no side effects.
Raw or roasted, whole or sliced, tip or base: the penis binge is not meant for Chinese guests as a superficial test of courage, but rather as a serious treatment for the libido. "The sexual act of this Russian dog lasts 48 hours and its mating season is seven months out of the year," is how the colorful, photo-filled menu praises a €16 ($25) penis dish.
A certain degree of care appears to be required when choosing a dish, depending partly on what one has planned for later in the evening. The sex and age of the customer also play a role. "Women should not eat testicles," Lucy says. "The hormones could give them a deeper voice and a beard." Penises, on the other hand, are completely harmless, and in fact are even "good for the skin," she says.
Children under 15 are not allowed in the penis restaurant; the hormones are said to interfere with natural growth. All the guests sit in booths, and most of them are older couples or all-male groups. "A lot of the customers are business people meeting with clients," Lucy says. "They order the most expensive meals -- their companies are paying."
A platter of ox and dog penises. The consistency and taste remind one of overly bitter rings of calamari, apparently.
Dog Penis Bone with A Cherry on Top
A waitress in pinstripe pants and a black jacket puts a pot of broth on an electric hotplate. Then Lucy carries out a glass plate with raw sexual parts from oxen and dogs, tastefully arranged on a bed of lettuce. A finger-long pointy bone protrudes out of a glass in the middle of the plate. There's a decorative cherry stuck on top. "Dogs are the only animals that have a penis bone," Lucy explains to the guests, pointing out the little groove on the side for the urethra.
Ox penises are sliced along the side and bent into little stars. Lucy uses chopsticks to dip one into the hotpot of chicken broth, dates, and lychees. Then the meat is doused in soy- or hot sauce. The consistency and taste are a little like a bitter piece of calamari.
The second course, called "Henry's whip," is much more delicate and sweet. It's sheep's penis on a stick, covered in a sheath of mayonnaise and sweet cheese. It's called "Henry" because it's prepared in a Western style, Lucy says.
Some of the specialties are expensive: A yak penis costs €179, while a hotpot with 10 different penis-and-testicle selections served on an attractive, four-sided plate tower with little statues of animals will set you back €89. For particularly discerning palates, the menu also offers deer and sheep fetuses (€36 and €9, respectively).
But this is only a small sampling of what restaurant manager Chen Jianguo says he has to offer. "For special guests there's a special menu," he says. Some connoisseurs say there are even penises from endangered species, like tigers. But to have a bite of that, you'll have to fill out a special application form for a silver, gold, or platinum membership card and pay up to €905.
At the end of the meal, Lucy hands over a little red box with ribbons on it. The dog penis bone is inside. It's a souvenir, she says, and is supposed to bring luck and protect the holder against "harmful influences."
But what about the risks and side effects from the food itself? Is your pulse really going faster when you leave the restaurant, or is it just your imagination? And were those spots on your arm there before?
"I think my voice is slowly getting deeper," Zhaoran says.
"The cost for each home treatment is only 60 yuan (£6 or P391), which is 12 percent of the hospital charge for dialysis," it quoted Hu as saying.
Hu, a resident of a rural area in East China, built the contraption after he could no longer afford high hospital bills.
The machine, used thrice a week, is made of kitchen utensils and old medical instruments.
Also, Hu used disused medical equipment, such as a blood pump and plastic tubing.
The Daily Mail report said Hu was diagnosed with kidney disease in 1993, while he was a college student.
While he initially underwent dialysis in hospitals, his savings ran out after six years - leaving him no choice but to make his own machine.
Not even the death of two friends who tried to build and use similar homemade machines fazed him.
'External kidney'
The Daily Mail report said Hu's machine works like an external kidney, with blood pumped through one half of the machine, and the dialysis fluid pumped through the other half.
Hu's dialysis fluid is a mix of potassium chloride, sodium chloride and sodium hydrogen carbonate (bicarbonate), and purified water.
"For the treatment, he inserts two tubes into his arm, which are connected to his dialysis machine. The blood is pumped out of his arm through one of the tubes, is filtered and then returned to his body via the other tube," the report said.
When the blood and dialysis fluid go through the machine, excess minerals go from his blood and through the membrane to the fluid.
This removes the waste products from his blood and the fluid is later thrown away. The "clean" blood is then pumped back into his body.
On the other hand, Hu said the nearest public hospital to his home is not only too far away, but also too crowded.
Doctors' warning
On the other hand, doctors warned Hu may risk serious infection and long-term complications by not using sterile water to make the fluid.
But Hu, who lives with his 81-year-old mother in Qutang township of Jiangsu Province, says he has limited options.
The Chinese government also offered medical aid to Hu when his story sparked national interest following media reports.
But Hu said he was reluctant to switch as the nearest hospital is far away and very crowded.
"You can choose to get bitter or you can choose to get better...I choose to get better..."-Dallas Wiens
While painting a church in 2008, Dallas’ head came into contact with a high-tension electrical line. He was immediately airlifted to Parkland Hospital, received in emergency, and admitted to the Burn Critical Care Unit. At that point, the doctors told the Wiens family that Dallas would not survive. Through his faith and tenacity, Dallas set out to prove them wrong.
As a result of the accident, Dallas was left without any facial features. The electrical line completely burned away his visage and left him with gaping wounds on his body and spinal cord injuries at the C-3, C-4, and C-5 vertebrae. After dozens of surgeries, the surgeons had reconstructed Dallas’ body to the point that they felt comfortable bringing him out of the medically induced coma that he had been in for three months. As soon as he came to, Dallas began the arduous road to recovery.
Spurred on by the desire to hold his two-year-old daughter Scarlette again, he learned to speak without the use of lips or teeth, threw aside his wheel chair despite being told he would not walk again, and opted for pushups and workouts in his hospital room during his free time instead of resting. Three months later, Dallas was out of the hospital and well on his way to returning to life before the accident. However, he was not satisfied.
After his plastic surgeon, Dr Jeff Janis, presented the life saving surgical procedure to his colleagues in the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, he was introduced to the possibility of a full facial transplant. This rare and risky procedure had not yet been attempted in the United States. After tireless hours of research, hospital visits, testing and qualifying, he was placed on a waiting list for this groundbreaking procedure to be performed by Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston .
As Dallas anxiously awaited the phone call that a donor had been found, he began seeking out ways to shine his light of hope into the lives of other tragedy survivors. It was to that end that The About Face organization was founded. Dallas set about the road to recovery while spreading his story to as many lives as he could. Then, on a day like any other, he got the call.
A team of 30 surgeons and hospital staff, led by Dr. Bohdan Pomahač, performed the almost 17-hour surgery, making history for the medical community. Thanks to their tireless effort, Dallas would be able to feel the kisses of his daughter once again.
The transplant surgery was a complete success and Dallas has been regaining facial muscular control and sensation every day. He can not only feel his daughter’s kisses, but he can feel the cool breeze on his skin and smell food and flowers; sensations that most of us take for granted.
Dallas now works tirelessly to be the best father and mentor he can be while showing others the possibility of accomplishing their dreams despite their circumstances.
Police opened fire with automatic weapons on a group of men who burst out from behind a vehicle. The volley of bullets threw up clouds of dust, which cleared to reveal at least seven bodies lying on the ground.
It was not clear whether the police were fired upon. They appeared to be on edge and with rifles pointing forwards immediately before the incident. Reuters photographs showed spears and clubs lying near the bodies.
The SAPA domestic news agency said one of its reporters had counted 18 bodies near a squatter camp close to the mine, Lonmin's flagship platinum plant, which was forced to shut down on Tuesday because of the union unrest.
Although some would argue the crocodiles are a danger not only to Awirut and his family, but also to his neighbors, they actually approve of his unusual protection method, and feel safe with the predators close by. One of them, Prajit Charoensakkhajon, says: ”I’m not frightened of him. I’d rather feel secure because he’ll watch our homes. Thieves wouldn’t dare to come round because they think the crocodile is fierce, right?
Georgi Readman got hooked on instant noodles when she was just five years old, after watching her older brother eat them, but they became her only source of nutrition after suffering a case of severe food poisoning at age eight. From that point on she couldn’t bring herself to eat any fruits or vegetables, and only occasionally diversified her diet with small bits of potatoes and chicken. Whenever she goes out shopping, Georgi’s mom always stocks up on 11p (¢16) packs of M Savers chicken noodles, because that’s the only brand she’s sure her daughter will eat. Any other kind of noodles might have green bits in them, so she would have to sieve them first. ”I always fancy noodles and could easily eat two packets at once. I’ve even eaten them dry and uncooked before,” Readman says. She has always been a fussy eater, but ever since her food poisoning as a child, Georgi claims she goes into a panic, sweats and starts heaving whenever she tries to swallow any fruits or vegetables.
Selective Eating Disorder has become more frequent in recent years, with cases of people eating only junk foods like pizza or potato chips and putting themselves at risk of anemia or other more serious conditions associated with lack of vitamins, iron or calcium. Most SED sufferers will only eat around 10 types of foods, but in extreme cases such as Georgi’s they’ll stick to just one or two.
Strict adherents to the Kohen code of conduct fear they will become contaminated should their plane fly over one of the many cemeteries near ben Gurion airport in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, so they wrap themselves hermetically in plastic. Confronted with a growing number of bag-wearing passengers, Israeli airline El Al introduced a policy that states ”flight safety considerations do not allow for passengers to board while covered in plastic bags” and has in turn gone to great lengths to take specific flight paths that avoid cemeteries, and let passengers know in advance if a dead body will be aboard in the cargo hold. Obviously the ability to breath properly inside a sealed bag has raised serious concerns, but punching the tiniest ventilation hole would nullify the spiritual protection it offers. ”Only if when the Kohein is putting on this bag it accidentally rips can there be some leniency,” a commentator in the Jewish newspaper Yated Ne’eman wrote. ”Kohanim have a duty to protect their taharah, purity. They have been bestowed with extra kedushah… At times, there may be extra demands made upon them in order to maintain that standard of kedushah and taharah.”
