So I wandered around the Shanghai insect market last weekend. Wow. It is loud with the sounds of crickets chirping, filled with smoke from shop owners' cigarettes, and made up of tight passageways with customers holding large plants and their purchases. There are a variety of insects, birds, turtles, dogs, fish... but I'd say half of the market is just for crickets. Some are sold just for show, and others are for fighting. It's illegal to gamble on cricket fights, but I saw lots of men "testing" out the crickets. One man told me that he's looking for long legs, long antenna, and aggression. Aggression? He takes a stick and gently agitates the cricket in the ceramic box, and then it will charge at the stick. Alas, they wouldn't tell me where a local "match" would be held.
I wrote about crickets today too! we are cosmically connected :)
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