These strange pets are trained to fight in China

A popular form of entertainment in many areas of China, such as Beijing and Shanghai, cricket fighting is far from new.

A centuries-old tradition

Keeping crickets as pets is said to date back to the Tang dynasty, around the 8th century. From there, it took a few more centuries for cricket fighting to flourish as a sport. By the 13th century, its appeal had reached all social classes, aided by some handbooks on the blood sport, one of which was authored by Southern Song Dynasty prime minister Jia Sidao.

Banned during China’s Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976, the practice has since experienced a revival, particularly among a younger generation willing to embrace and preserve Chinese pastimes. According to previous reports, between 300,000 and 400,000 people raise crickets as a hobby in Shanghai alone, whether to make them fight or to make them sing (another common Chinese hobby).

From the market to the arena

The concept is simple: two crickets of similar weights are placed in a ring until one emerges victorious.

Most cricket trading occurs in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai around autumn, when the insects are thought to be mature and at their strongest. This supposedly gives their owners an edge in competition. Those have usually been collected in the surrounding countryside, all for amusing cricket-fighting aficionados in the cities.

Studies have found that male crickets with proportionately larger heads and mandibles had a better chance of winning.

Before putting some money up, enthusiasts inspect the legs and jaws of the crickets to ensure that they will be fierce contenders. The Shandong province, on the Yellow Sea, is said to provide the most robust of them. The interest in specific breads means that the price of crickets can vary. While they usually cost between $1 and $10 each, some people have been known to spend more than $1,000 for an exceptionally strong creature.

Right before the fight starts, the owners use a rabbit-hair brush or other chopstick-like tools to encourage the crickets, housed in an oval-shaped plastic container, to be aggressive. These miniature arenas are filmed, allowing spectators to follow the action on a big screen. As for the judges, they use magnifying glasses to keep an eye on the score. If some fighters choose to run away, they automatically lose; others can tear the claws off their opponents. In a sign of victory, the winning crickets will loudly beat their wings.

The matches usually last about five minutes.

All about competition

Although handlers treat their crickets differently from what they would experience in their natural habitat, they generally take good care of them. For some, however, the hobby has lost its initial spirit in the name of competition. Because the crickets, just like boxers, are weighed to be appropriately paired, owners sometimes heat them with a blow dryer or feed them laxatives. Some insects are even given drugs to improve their performance.

Cricket fighting is also the perfect place for gamblers. Cricket owners no longer exchange mooncakes as they used to. Deals can now amount to thousands of yuan, despite gambling being strictly forbidden in China. Some cricket-fighting dens are sometimes raided by police when fights are not held discreetly, in private homes or parks. In 2014, a man was reportedly stabbed over a gambling dispute.

If not kept or killed, the losing crickets are released into the wild. And, from their point of view, no doubt that they are the true winners of this blood sport.