Whilst wandering around Shanghai Old Town last month I came across this curious market selling all manner of creepy crawlies and other things you’d probably not want to get too close to! In fact, the market sells a variety of flowers, birds, fish and insects as well as all the paraphernalia needed for keeping them (although don’t expect animal rights to be very high up on anyone’s agenda here).
Baby turtles by the dozen. They go nicely sautéed with birds nest soup I hear… 😉
Looking at these birdcages I was reminded of Chinese apartment blocks.
If you can put up with their incessant chirping apparently crickets make very good low-maintenance pets – all they need is a few fresh grubs each day! In ancient China, they were the pet of choice for the rich and wealthy where cricket fighting was and still is today a popular pastime. In Beijing, the Association for Cricket Fighting organises cricket fighting events and championships (I kid you not). In some cases, the crickets will go as far as to bite each other’s legs off and cricket gambling can be an equally dangerous business where thousands of Yuan are often at stake.
You can find the market not far from Laoximen metro station (line 8).
Reply