Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
In traditional Chinese medicine, snake wine is used to promote vitality, cure headaches and ease rheumatism.
However, one woman got more than she bargained for after she opened a bottle of the elixir and the snake, which had been coiled inside for three months, leapt out and bit her on the hand.
For a foreigner, it is one of the more unusual sights in a Chinese apothecary – that of a bottle or jar with a coiled snake inside, waiting to be dispensed.
A common method of making snake wine is to marinate a snake in a bottle of baijiu, or rice wine, over a period of several months. Most people use dried snakes, but some are more audacious and use live, often venomous serpents to make the elixir. According to a report in the Global Times, the victim in this case was a woman surnamed Liu, who hails from Shuangcheng in Heilongjiang province in the north of China. She was reportedly adding more alcohol to the elixir, which contained a venomous, pickled serpent in the bottom, when it leapt out and bit her.
Ms Liu, who drank snake wine to help her rheumatism, had to go to hospital to be treated for inflammation.
The snake has played a role in Chinese medicine for thousands of years, and it is one of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac. In this Year of the Snake, consuming snake is said to have auspicious qualities.
The newspaper said there have been similar cases before, including one in 2001, when a villager in Guangxi Zhuang died after being bitten by a snake in a bottle of wine.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments