With winter now engulfing much of the Northern Hemisphere, all sorts of cold preventatives and remedies are being sold. Before the winter ends in Hong Kong an estimated two-hundred and seventeen thousand pounds Sterling will be spent on a popular cold preventative... snakes.

There are more than twenty snake restaurants in Hong Kong that serve about two thousand snakes a day. Many more are prepared in homes. The most popular varieties are the highly-poisonous cobra and the python. They are skinned and boned before eating.

It has long been believed by many Chinese that not only are snakes good to eat but they also prevent, or cure, a number of illnesses including colds and rheumatism. Bottles of snake medicine sell for about two and a half pounds Sterling (six U.S. dollars).

There are a variety of ways of preparing snakes for eating. They can be fried, used in a salad, or in a soup with shredded chicken and mushrooms that resembles shark soup. In addition, the gall bladder is used to make snake wine.