Getting your goat

According to traditional Chinese medicine, goat meat (above) and goat blood soup (left inserted) are extremely good in winter to enhance the hot yang energy and ward off the cold.

More than 6,500 goats are butchered, generating 2.2 million yuan (US$323,530) in income for local farmers.

More than 250 households raise goats in the village.

The price for a goat is increasing every year, from 500 yuan last year to 700 yuan today, says Jin Tianming, who raises 60 goats. "Some big goats sell for up to 800 yuan," he says.

The government supports the goat industry by granting annual subsidies ranging from 50 yuan to 500 yuan to each goat raiser.

In 2006 the government registered the trademark "Goat Meat Village" and last year the first goat meat festival was held.

In 2007 the government built parking lots near the goat meat road.

There's a blueprint for a 24-hectare project, covering not only goat meat restaurants but also entertainment facilities, bars, tea houses, fishing ponds, parks, motels and souvenir shops.

"The village is working hard to become Shanghai's base for goat raising, butchering, processing, catering and selling," says Zhou Yongchao, director of Jinshanwei Town, which includes the goat village.

Within the next three years, the government plans to invest 70 million yuan in renovating the village's roads, rivers and bridges, building Zhangqiao into a new tourism attraction and its goat meat into a brand recognized throughout the Yangtze River Delta.

"I hope the word Zhangqiao is the first thing that pops into people's minds when they want to eat goat meat," Zhou says.

How to get there: A4 (toward Jinshanwei) - A6. Take Jinshanwei exit to Jinshan Avenue, Jinshi Road S.

Dos and don'ts

Wing Tan

According to traditional Chinese medicine, goat has lots of yang (hot) energy and thus can reinforce energy and nourish weak constitutions.

According to the ancient "Ben Cao Gang Mu," a TCM bible, goat benefits the heart, spleen (the entire digestive system) and kidneys (especially the reproductive system), fights fatigue and weakness, gives strength and brings warmth.

However, there some TCM dos and don'ts when you eat goat.

Don't drink vinegar with goat meat. The meat and vinegar are both yang (hot) energy foods and overdoing it can cause "fire" in the body and damage the heart.

Those with cardiovascular conditions should be wary of goat.

Don't cook goat meat in copper vessels. There could be a chemical reaction and at high temperatures the metal could generate copper salt which could react with goat protein, creating a toxic substance, or so it is said.

People with liver conditions should not eat too much goat as it can burden the liver.

Don't drink tea after eating goat meat as it may cause constipation.

Don't eat too much goat meat. Balance it with cooler yin energy foods, such as cabbage and bean starch noodles.