After reading this article on Chinese delicacies, I felt like the typical Westerner: completely ignorant of other cultures. I have definitely heard many a story regarding Chinese people eating cat or dog or alligator; however, I never tuned in as to why. Seemingly, there is cultural significance placed on items of food we Americans would deem as off-limits. Just as we consider caviar, frog's legs, and pate delicacies, the Chinese consider beef tendons, bird's nest soup, and jellyfish a treat. Surely, the Chinese find some of our seemingly normal eating pattern bizarre. In fact, eating cat or dog is quite rare in their culture (like eating head cheese in the United States). Furthermore, much of what we would consider untypical food is actually used as medicine. This certainly puts things into perspective.
check this out: http://www.maxent.org/ch/exotic_food.html