---- Ein Bauer wäscht Schlangen an einer Schlangenfarm in Zisiqiao Dorf, als die Schlange Dorf, in Xinshi Stadt bekannt, deqing Grafschaft, Stadt Huzhou, East China
--FILE--A farmer washes snakes at a snake farm in Zisiqiao village, known as the snake village, in Xinshi town, Deqing county, Huzhou city, east Chinas Zhejiang province, 9 August 2006. This sleepy village nestled in the heart of vast farmland in Chinese eastern province of Zhejiang hides a deadly secret. A step into the homes of any of the farming families here brings visitors eye-to-eye with thousands of some of the worlds most feared creatures, snakes, many of them poisonous. Cobras, vipers and pythons are everywhere in Zisiqiao, aptly known as the snake village, where the reptiles are deliberately raised for use as food and in traditional Chinese medicine, bringing in millions of dollars to a village that otherwise would rely solely on farming. 60-year-old farmer Yang Hongchang introduced snake breeding to the village decades ago. In 1985, Yang started selling snakes he caught around the area to animal vendors. He soon began to worry that the wild snakes would run out and thus began researching on how to breed snakes at home. Within three years, he had made a fortune, and many other villagers decided to emulate his success. Today, more than three million snakes are bred in the village every year by the 160 farming families.
