'Ask a Laobeijing' is a regular series where we chat with a laoren about their thoughts on different issues. This month, we meet Yu, 60, walking on Shizipo Jie.
What do you think about government plans to ban ivory trading?
I support the ban – we should protect wild animals. In the past, society attached little value to protection, and elephants were hunted wantonly. Chinese culture valued items made of ivory because there was little else to play with. It resulted in the exploitation of resources and animals.
Now we have jade – something you don’t need to kill any animals for. Yes, ivory is beautiful, but we should focus more on protecting rather than destroying nature or killing animals. I’ve become more aware of these issues thanks to advertisements and reading the news – I’ve learned that [society] has wrecked so many things, so we need to find a solution.
There are specialist ivory carvers but they can engage in other trades. And to be honest, if we continue this type of activity, we are not showing any development. Other countries have already improved their thinking.
I don’t have any ivory myself, even though ivory is good-looking – I refuse to! I remember when I was younger my family had a small item that was so beautiful. My parents told me it was ivory. But we didn’t value it at the time, and we threw it out. These items will be more expensive now that the government plans to ban the trade.
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