Ningyang Cricket Folk Culture Tourism Area

Ningyang Cricket Folk Culture Tourism Area

Crickets in Ningyang have a long history and are widely renowned. As early as 2,500 years ago, the "Book of Songs" recorded: "The cricket is in the hall, in October it crawls under my bed." The tradition of cricket fighting in Ningyang began in the Qin and Han dynasties, flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties, and reached its peak in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Since ancient times, it has been hailed as the "best fighting cricket in the world" and was regarded as a tribute to the imperial palace through the ages. Ningyang fighting crickets are known for their large size, fierce temperament, strength, combat prowess, and diverse breeds. According to *Gongchong* (a classic on fighting crickets), among the 26 renowned warrior crickets collected nationwide from 1895 (the 21st year of the Guangxu reign) to 1940 over 46 years, nine were from Ningyang. In the 1984 Tianjin Cricket Friendship Match, the 1989 Shanghai Cricket Competition, the 1992 Shanghai-Tianjin Challenge Match, and the 1998 National Cricket Friendship Tournament, Ningyang crickets defeated all competitors to claim the championship, attracting significant attention from cricket enthusiasts at home and abroad. Professor Wu Jichuan, Director of the Institute of Entomology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and President of the Chinese Cricket Association, led experts to Ningyang on multiple occasions for research. He confirmed that Ningyang is the "cradle of Chinese cricket fighting" and the "sacred land of crickets," the birthplace of Chinese cricket culture, and featured it in special reports in major publications such as the UK’s *The Independent*. A group of veteran cricket fighters from Macau traveled northward to Ningyang, where they found elite warrior crickets and achieved remarkable success in matches. They referred to Ningyang as the "Cricket Kingdom of Shandong" in *Senior Citizens' World*.

The county Party committee and government attach great importance to the development of the cricket industry, having listed it as a new economic growth point and incorporated it into their key agenda, actively developing and utilizing cricket resources. Last year, substantial investment was made to widen the Jiyuan Highway section in Sidian, facilitating cricket trading. The China Ningyang Cricket Research Institute was established to guide the development of the cricket market. The China Cricket Friendship Tournament was held and included by the Tai’an Municipal People’s Government as an event in the 13th International Mountaineering Festival. A portion of the high-quality farmland in Sidian Town was allocated for cricket resource development experiments, with professors and experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and research institutions and universities in Beijing and Shanghai invited to provide guidance. The county also introduced a series of preferential policies under the slogan "Building a high platform to attract talents from all directions," ensuring the healthy development of cricket resource utilization and laying a solid foundation for exploring the international market.

Driven by government support and social collaboration, the cricket industry in Ningyang has flourished. This year’s Cricket Friendship Tournament saw participation from 32 teams and 364 players from 26 provinces and cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Harbin, and Hainan. All 390 competing crickets were sourced from Ningyang, including 96 champion crickets and 8 elite warriors. The main trading period occurs during August and September, during which the Ningyang Cricket Trading Market sees a peak daily foot traffic of 80,000 visitors and peak daily transaction volume reaching 960,000 yuan. A single cricket once sold for as much as 18,700 yuan, setting a trading record. According to statistics, this year’s cricket trading volume has exceeded 100 million yuan, increasing the per capita income of related towns by over 1,200 yuan and generating a total of 32 million yuan in tourism and other tertiary industry revenues.