High-priced seafood whets appetites in China - The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, USA

High-priced seafood whets appetites in China - The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, USA: "High-priced seafood restaurants, which used to be concentrated in Guangdong, the southernmost province bordering Hong Kong, have proliferated up the coast throughout China and even into less affluent inland cities. ``The competition is more and more intense,'' said He Cheng, manager of the Liu Fu Shark Fin Restaurant in Beijing. ``In the past, just a few restaurants had shark fin, but gradually, it's become more commonplace.'' These restaurants serve not just shark fin, but abalone, sea cucumber, tropical fish and freshwater and sea turtles, all species at risk of becoming endangered, said Xu Hongfa, a Beijing-based wildlife specialist at WWF, a conservation organization. "