Beijing restaurant owner Tan Hualiang was sentenced five and a half years in prison and fined 5,000 yuan (US$ 120) Tuesday for illegally purchasing rare wild animals to serve in his Guangdong-style eating house.

On November 13 last year, Tan, the owner of a restaurant in Beijing's eastern Chaoyang district bought four cobras, two pangolins and two lizards which were on a national list of protected species.

Chen Kejin, the man who was selling the animals, was sentenced five years in jail.

The pair were caught by police when they started their deal in Tan's restaurant specializing in southern Guangdong cuisine.

According to the People's Court of Chaoyang District, the two violated wild animal protection laws.

( People's Daily June 5, 2002)