Yulin Dog Meat Festival

What it is

Yulin is a city in Guangxi, in southern China. Each June, from the 21st to the 30th, a festival there centres on the eating of dog meat, usually alongside lychees, a small fruit with sweet white flesh. The dates sit around the summer solstice, the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. The event lasts roughly ten days and is sometimes called the Lychee and Dog Meat Festival. It is not a temple or religious festival. Its organisers, the local businesses that sell the meat, present it as a seasonal custom; the city's government says it involves only a small share of residents.

Origins and history

The festival was launched on 21 June 2009. Early reports said about 10,000 dogs were eaten at each occurrence. That figure was later reported to have dropped, to roughly 1,000 in 2015, and about 3,000 were estimated in 2018. Critics describe the event as recent and commercial: in their account, dog traders started it around 2010 to raise profits, and Yulin had no past of large-scale dog slaughter. Yulin's government told the news agency Xinhua in 2014 that it neither organised nor backed the festival, calling it a local custom branded by businesses and residents.

Food and drink

Dog meat is what the festival is known for, and those who join in eat it across the ten days. Lychees are served with it, which is why the event carries their name. The organisers say the dogs are killed without suffering, and that there is no difference between dog meat and pork or beef. Nothing in Chinese law forbids the sale or eating of dog meat. Nationally, the amount eaten is small. An estimated 10 million dogs are consumed in China each year, which works out low per person.

What it means

Meanings differ sharply. Organisers say the killing is humane and the meal ordinary. Animal welfare campaigners say the animals are handled cruelly; some press reports claimed dogs were deliberately hurt or boiled alive to improve the taste, though other reports since 2015 said there was little evidence for that. Commentators have argued that the line drawn between pets and farm animals changes between cultures, and that animals raised for food elsewhere may be treated as badly. A 2016 survey by the polling company Horizon found 64% of Chinese citizens wanted the festival to end.

Today and change

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, China's Ministry of Agriculture announced that dogs count as companions rather than livestock, which banned slaughtering and selling them for meat. In February that year Yulin said it would close the dog consumption market as a coronavirus measure. The festival went ahead anyway on 21 June 2020, with fewer people reported to be present, and it was still being held in 2021. Campaigns continue: a June 2025 survey found that 88% of people in Yulin would not feel inconvenienced if eating dog meat were banned.

How Yulin Dog Meat Festival is kept

The festival runs for about ten days each June in Yulin, with stalls, restaurants and markets selling dog meat, eaten with lychees. Thousands of dogs have been killed for it in past years, though reported numbers have fallen. Animal welfare groups and Chinese volunteers use the dates to hold protests and petitions and to intercept trucks carrying dogs; in 2016 about 1,000 dogs were rescued, and more than 1,300 in 2017, when police confirmed many had been stolen. Police are present, but campaigner Du Feng says they rarely stop the trade.

When and where

The festival is held every year from 21 to 30 June, about ten days set around the summer solstice. It was launched on that first date, 21 June 2009, and has kept to the same window since.

It is kept in Yulin, a city in the Guangxi region of southern China, and it is there that the meals, markets and protests take place. Yulin's government says only a small share of residents take part, and that local businesses and residents, not the authorities, are behind it. Criticism comes from elsewhere in China and from other countries.

What Yulin Dog Meat Festival means

For those who take part, the meal is described by organisers as an ordinary summer custom, no different from eating pork or beef. For opponents, the dog is a companion and a helper of people, and the festival stands for cruelty. Commentators have pointed out that the border drawn between dogs and farm animals varies between cultures, and that animals raised for food in other countries are often treated no better.

Days Yulin Dog Meat Festival is marked

Questions people ask about Yulin Dog Meat Festival

See also

Water lanternSmall lamps floated on water to honour the dead and ask for good fortuneMid-Autumn FestivalAn annual harvest festival celebrating family reunions, full moons and mooncakesBuddha's BirthdayA festival marking the birth of Siddhartha Gautama, observed across Asia with temple rituals and community gatherings.SabantuyA summer festival of folk sports and feasting celebrated by Tatar, Bashkir, Chuvash, and Kazakh communities.

Good reading and sources

• China Yulin dog meat festival under way despite outrageBBC, Article
• US Congressional resolution asks China to end Dog meat festivalThe Indian Express, Article
• Q. and A.: Peter J. Li on the Clash Over Eating Dogs in ChinaThe New York Times, Article
• Yes, cats and dogs are special – they deserve our protection in ChinaThe Guardian, Article
• China Yulin dog meat festival under way despite outrageBBC, Article
• US Congressional resolution asks China to end Dog meat festivalThe Indian Express, Article
• Q. and A.: Peter J. Li on the Clash Over Eating Dogs in ChinaThe New York Times, Article
• Yes, cats and dogs are special – they deserve our protection in ChinaThe Guardian, Article

• Dog Meat Festival on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.