After the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is the good light of the Shanghainese white cricket. There is a proverb that says, "Crickets are calling, autumn is cold." At night, crickets can also be heard on the roads of the city. So, where do we go to buy crickets now? Does anyone else have white crickets?
Recently, two former "bug friends" reporters of the Morning Post visited the largest cricket trading market in downtown Shanghai.
Sign at the entrance of Lanling Flower and Bird Market prohibiting the gathering of people to fight crickets (data map)
Located on Lingshi Road in Putuo District, Lanling Flower and Bird Market is one of the largest flower and bird markets in downtown Shanghai. From The Xincun Road Station of Metro Line 7 and 7 minutes north, you will see a sign at the entrance of the market (see above), and it is forbidden to gather people to fight crickets in and around the Flower and Bird Market during the epidemic. According to reports, this is a prompt board set up by the market management department for everyone's safety considerations during the epidemic period. It seems that it is not far from the cricket trading market.
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Morning reporters visit the largest cricket trading market in the city center
<h2>There are only bug traders, bug fans and bugs here</h2>
Walking along the flower and bird market to the end, there is a building called Juqi City, which is known in the industry as the largest cricket trading market in downtown Shanghai. According to industry insiders, there are nearly 100 stall owners and shops here, and the market is the most lively period from August to October every year.
Here, there are no bosses, customers and goods, only bug dealers, bug fans and bugs. Most of the uncles who come to buy crickets wear headlamps and have cricket grass in their mouths, and they "tease" crickets with cricket grass every time they go to a stall. Once the cricket is teased and flaps its wings to make a loud cry, the uncles can distinguish between good and bad. The reporter saw at the scene that the crickets brought by a Shaoxing aunt stall owner were all packed in bamboo tubes, and she poured the crickets on her hands and covered them with a net for customers to see.
The stall owners and uncles wear headlamps to pick out crickets
The stall owner poured the crickets on his hands and covered them with a net for customers to see
Mr. Shen, 71, told reporters that he had gone from being a small white cricket to now:
Xiao Tatsumi went to the Temple of Literature and Wanshang, before I went to Cao'an Road, then to Zhenbei Road, and now to Lanling. In the morning, I made an appointment with my old friend to fight crickets, but the old friend couldn't get up, or came to the market to take a look.
A few days ago, my son bought a new electric car for Mr. Shen, and today Mr. Shen drove directly from Meilan Lake, and it took an hour on the road. Previously, Mr. Shen booked a train ticket to Yanzhou, Shandong Province, online, and before leaving, a familiar stall owner told him that the market was not open this year because of the epidemic, and told him not to come, so he decided to buy crickets in Shanghai.
For the selection of crickets, Mr. Shen has his own set of experience:
You see, a few crickets have short faces and no teeth. In terms of appearance, the face of the cricket should be like the three animals of horses, tigers and lions; in terms of color, the cricket face should be black, just like the martial students in Peking Opera, the evil spirit is fierce, if it is a white-faced student, the spirit is not spirited.
Mr. Shen is picking crickets
Mr. Shen told reporters that he had three children, but none of them were playing with crickets now. "My youngest son is also thirty-seven or eight years old this year, and when he was in junior high school, he was also a white cricket with me, but now that he has a child, he (crickets) can't look at it, so to speak, the crickets I bought back, he doesn't even have the interest to look at them."
The reporter met a 72-year-old Shanghai uncle at the scene, who told reporters that he had recently visited the cricket market eight times, but he had not found a good cricket. Uncle picked for more than two hours at a stall selling crickets in Liangshan, Shandong, and only picked three crickets, it was near noon, Uncle was ready to go home, he picked up the last worm jar, as soon as he opened the lid, Uncle's eyes lit up:
Die only worm good forehead, praise, praise. Stacked insect shirt up to the tail end, exposed wings without over-tail, known as "double streamer", heavy mouth, and can be clipped.
And the stall owner shouted loudly from the side: "Liangshan's 'double streamer', the world is invincible!" ”
The 72-year-old Shanghai uncle and the Liangshan "double streamer" cricket he chose
Mr. Wang, who held a leadership position in a state-owned enterprise before retiring, told reporters that he had been white crickets since he wore open crotch pants, and among the insect friends he knew, there were retired university professors, as well as many experts and leaders. Talking about the people who used to like crickets, Mr. Wang told a joke. Once, Xiao Zhang, an employee in his factory, was going to go on a date with his girlfriend at night, and he and the factory director said: "Factory director, I took a few friends at night to help Nong go to the countryside to catch crickets, and I will go back early in the next half of the day." The factory director waved his hand and said, "Go, go!" ”
Buggers open the lid to select crickets
As a former insect friend, Morning News photojournalist Ren Guoqiang shared his experience:
When I was a child, I also crickets, just looked for them in the corner of the old house, followed the call to take a flashlight, moved the bricks away little by little, and covered them with my hands when I saw them. Cricket grass I will also get, find the bifurcated grass, tear from the middle a little bit to the sides, and then put together, with a finger, whisker head out. When I was a child, I didn't have the conditions to buy cricket pots, so I put a few grains of rice in a smaller enamel jar.
<h2>Thirty or fifty dollars of crickets are best sold</h2>
The reporter saw at the scene that the price of AA-level crickets was about tens of yuan. A stall owner told reporters: "My biggest order this year is three thousand yuan, about dozens of crickets." Now the price of expensive crickets can not be sold, most of the public for crickets psychological price is between 30 and 50 yuan, because now they are bought back to raise their own play. ”
An aunt told reporters that she and her wife chose a batch of crickets a few days ago, a total of nineteen, the stall owner asked for 25 yuan a piece, and finally traded 15 yuan a piece, which felt more cost-effective.
AA-grade crickets are priced at around a few tens of dollars
The "eldest third sister" of five yuan and one
Some stall owners said that the selection of crickets still need to pay attention, at present, there are "white worms" and "autumn worms" in some markets on sale, "autumn worms" are wild crickets, and "white worms" are artificially raised crickets, which look relatively large, and the public is generally difficult to identify with the naked eye, some stall owners will explain, but some stall owners will not explain. For insect friends who buy crickets, there is still a difference between the two, and buying "white worms" is equivalent to taking medicine.
On the first floor of Juqi City, there are some boutique shops, and the prices of crickets sold by these merchants are generally one notch higher than the stalls on the third floor. A shop owner told reporters: the crickets in the store are 100 yuan a piece, 5 are sold; if you want to buy cheap crickets, it is from the varieties selected by previous customers, the price is 50 yuan a piece.
A variety of cricket grasses are sold in boutiques
Precision instruments for weighing crickets
The store participates in the "Chinese Cricket Super League" and wins the crickets
At a boutique store, the owner showed off sophisticated instruments for weighing crickets, which last year saw several cricket varieties participate in the industry's so-called "Chinese Cricket Super League" and won awards.
Cricket prices have now become rational after their previous peaks and after market governance. According to the boss, last year, the highest price in Shanghai was a "yellow tooth white blue" variety of crickets (see figure), the transaction price of 110,000, the price is comparable to gold, placed in the cricket circle can also be said to be sky-high. But the buyer finally found that this was a "literary general" (term: cricket that could not fight), and this matter became a joke in the cricket circle.
Last year, the highest-priced cricket in Shanghai was "yellow teeth and white blue"
An industry insider put it this way: "Of course, good crickets are priceless, because there are still a small number of people who really like crickets." ”
<h2>The Shanghai stall owner only sells local oil gourds and three tails</h2>
Mr. Zhu, 64, is the only Shanghai stall owner in the cricket trading market, featuring the sale of local Shanghai oil gourds and local three-tailed seeds (Shanghainese, meaning female cricket), as well as various cricket pots. Mr. Zhu told reporters: Before retiring, a friend invited him to the market to help, the friend was responsible for catching crickets, he was responsible for watching the stalls, and the money earned was half open. A few years ago, a friend withdrew from the market for other reasons, and he took over as the stall owner here.
Mr. Zhu, a Shanghai stall owner, only sells local oil gourds and local three-tailed seeds
Mr. Zhu told reporters that the local crickets he sells mainly come from the suburbs of Shanghai, with the three districts of Jiading, Qingpu and Minhang being the most numerous, of which the local crickets in Qibao and Xinzhuang are of better quality, although there are also crickets in the city center, but do not ling, so do not go to catch.
In the eyes of his family, Mr. Zhu's stall selling crickets is not a proper business, but Mr. Zhu believes:
The white cricket is actually a culture, and the reason why it can continue from the Tang Dynasty to the present day is the best proof. Since I went deeper into it myself, there were only two words "interesting". I see a lot of bug friends who would rather shrink their clothes and diet than buy a good cricket. As a retiree, I can make a little money by setting up a cricket stall and making many insect friends, which is also a pleasure for the elderly, so why not enjoy it?
Guess what kind of "three sisters" is this?
Mr. Zhu, a stall owner in Shanghai, believes that the white cricket is actually a culture
Recalling the scene of Xiao Xiaochenguang fighting crickets, Mr. Zhu is still vividly remembered:
Since I was 6 years old, I have been white crickets, Le Xiaochenguang, and it is a kind of childlike fun. At that time, everyone was in bad condition, so they put crickets in the enamel jar, and the children gathered together to fight crickets, and the evil atmosphere was interesting.
Mr. Zhu told reporters that every Wednesday and Saturday is the most lively day of the cricket market, because most bug friends know that the market will be stocked on this day, and there is a chance to choose good crickets, so there are many people. Will anyone raise crickets in the future? Mr. Zhu feels that (the cricket market) is a bit towards the end: "Judging from the current general trend, there are fewer and fewer people in the white cricket, hey..."
When the reporter left the cricket market and walked downstairs to the flower and bird market passage, a parent reprimanded his son who was curious about crickets, "Now who is still white and white, is an old man and an old woman." ”
By the way, crickets, Shanghainese also write it as "talent tadpoles", and a little more advanced is "tadpoles".
Source: Thoughtful