Beijing - Dog meat will be banned from restaurants designated to serve Olympic visitors and its use discouraged at all other Beijing restaurants until September, a Chinese tourism official said Friday.

If customers order dog meat, restaurant staff should politely suggest an alternative dish, Xiong Yumei, vice director of the Beijing Tourism Bureau, told the official Xinhua news agency. "Conflicts should be avoided" over the issue, the official added.

The Beijing Catering Trade Association had issued a notice banning the city's 112 designated Olympic restaurants from serving dog during the games.

Other restaurants were "strongly advised to suspend serving dog until September," the agency said.

The association would blacklist any restaurants found violating the ban, the report added.

Dog meat remains popular in many areas of northern and southern China, especially among men, some of whom adhere to the traditional belief that eating powerful animals transfers their strength to the consumer.

In Beijing, dog meat is most often found at Korean restaurants.

Dogs are commonly kept as pets or guards in many rural areas of China and have become popular pets in Beijing and other urban areas since bans were lifted more than a decade ago.

But with strict size limits in force, most urban dog owners have to make do with pampering a Pekinese or other small dog. (dpa)