Posted: July 31st, 2008 - 12:29am by Michelle Mazur

China has been known to have a wide array of food items available at markets and restaurants.  Beijing's Guo-li-Zhuang restaurant offers something even more exotic than fugu (puffer fish)  or fried whale. 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.

“Chinese eat anything with four legs, except tables. And everything that flies, except airplanes,” says business student Zhaoran, quoting a well-known Chinese saying. This may be true, but even in China a penis restaurant is unusual.

Guolizhuang's owner, who set it up in November 2005, is proud to combine his own surname (Guo), his wife's (Li) and his son's nickname (Zhuang) into its title.  A booking comes with a trained waitress and a nutritionist in attendance, to explain the menu and to boast its medicinal virtues.

At the first thought of eating animal penises, most cringe.  But the Chinese consider it a health treatment for the libido, and repeatedly eating the penis and testicles of an animal is said to help raise the libido of men and cure kidney and erection problems.  For their medicinal effect to work, the dishes have to be consumed regularly.

There is also a wine available that is fast-acting and is said to work better than Viagra (without the side effects).  The wine contains extracts of heart, penis, and blood from a deer; it is said to taste like a bitter lemon.  Ladies are even invited to try some of the dishes.  Penis is said to be good for the skin, but women do not eat testicles in order to prevent masculine features from developing.

The meals served do not come cheap: 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).

If you’ve made travel plans to enjoy the Olympics in Beijing, I suggest this restaurant as an adventurous dining experience.

BBC Reporter Stefan Gates speaks with one of the chefs about their menu items.

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