Xu Weixin/Shanghai Daily news

Li Shijun, a photography professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, spends about 5,000 yuan (US$617) a year buying and raising fighting crickets, but the leading authority on the pastime said he never gambles on the events, unlike most others involved in the hobby.
Cricket tanks of various sizes fill Li's home on Xizha Road in Fengxian District, but most of them are empty as Li often gives the insects away to friends who share his hobby.
Cricket fighting is closely linked to gambling in China, so many people look down on those engaged in the hobby, but that doesn't dissuade Li.
"Most people raising the crickets hope the insects can win money for them through gambling on fights," he said.
However, the 64-year-old man has his principles.
"No money is involved in my cricket raising," he said. "I welcome people to fight the crickets in my house and I really enjoy the fun, but gambling is forbidden."
"This is the golden season for us cricket fans," said Cai Aoying, a professor at Shanghai International Studies University. "We have dozens of cricket fights and some games are between professors from Jiao Tong and Fudan universities, but no one bets even 1 yuan."
Li set up the "Shanghai Cricket Team" to participate in the national cricket fight match. The team won the gold medal at a championship in Suzhou in 2003 and took home the silver medal last year.
Li said crickets are more than a hobby, they are a "culture." He has written four books about crickets, one of them was the first book focusing on cricket raising research in China and has become the reference book of choice for collectors.
Li devotes himself to promoting the culture. He went to Henan Province to popularize cricket knowledge after he learned that people there knew little about the insect, which could make them a fortune.
"Henan has the same soil as Shandong Province," Li said. "This land can breed excellent crickets and the business has brought hundreds of millions of yuan in profits to Shandong. But some people in Henan still suffer from poverty despite of such good resources - that's really a pity."
With Li's help, several Henan natives have made their way to the Wanshang Market, the biggest cricket market in Shanghai, to sell their crickets.
Top crickets can sell for up to 500 yuan a piece, and long-time gamblers all have stories of people paying thousands of yuan for a champion fighter.