Most Chinese come in contact with poultry everyday of their lives, at least those that shop for food for the family. Seems to me that this would put the Chinese at increased risk for catching the avian flu from the birds themselves.
Open air markets are full of live poultry, and most Chinese shop at open air markets, even in the "big cities."
In the case of SARS, I believe that it was also traced to a open market in Guanghzou and was thought to have been contracted from a certain type of wild animal for sale there.
Thanks for the information! I seem to recall that SARS had some sort of appearance in a laboratory though.