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The way a cricket is raised is also crucial. "I feed my crickets a special food combining corn flour, wheat flour and apple pieces," said Huang Huoyong, a stall keeper at the Xizang Nanlu Flower and Bird Market. For especially excellent crickets, calcium tablets or ginseng might be added to strengthen their bodies and hone their fighting abilities.

Bed mate

Huang said in the current cycle of cricket fighting, it is quite common to hear such stories: for some men, the adored creature who shares their bed each night is their champion cricket rather than their wife.

Although some simply enjoy the insects' beautiful singing, for most cricket fans, fighting is the supreme goal. This also helps to explain how the activity has lasted so many years.

"Cricket fighting is really exciting!" said Zhou Jisheng, a stall keeper opposite Huang. Before putting the two insects in one box, they should be weighed just like boxers. People then use yard grass stalks to stimulate the insects to fight.

Generally speaking, the competition will be finished after a few minutes. But in the case of some resolute and powerful crickets, the contest might last half an hour or even 45 minutes.

"The two insects will bite each other with their powerful jaws. Sometimes, all of their legs are bitten off, yet they still jump and bite until death," Zhou said. "They are real warriors."

Auspicious Symbol

For centuries, China has regarded a cricket chirping around the house as good luck; a deluge of crickets means wealth will come to the family.

As the pastime grew more popular, citizens began sending thousands of their best crickets to the capital each year as gifts for the emperor. Then painters, poets, musicians, and politicians alike followed the emperor’s lead and began to keep crickets as pets, storing them in containers developed specifically for the little songmakers — containers that ranged from tiny cages wrought of bamboo and fish bones to clay pots, beautifully carved wooden boxes, and decorative gourds inlaid with ivory and gold. Eventually, cricket societies and clubs grew, encompassing all levels of hobbyists. Thus this appreciation, as with so many other customs throughout the world, began in the palaces but soon spread to the lower classes and to the villages.