30-year-old Nil from Quebec, Canada has been teaching English in Harbin since 2007. Now Nil has a new hobby in China--- fighting crickets. He said: “crickets can fight like boxers in America. This broadens my horizon”

In the summer of 2008, Nil saw many people getting together and continuously shouting in a park, in Hangzhou. Nil got close to the crowd with curiosity. He found that there was a round box on a round table. There were two insects fighting against each other. Nil discovered that this kind of sport is called fighting crickets and has over a thousand-year history. “At that time, I had the idea that I want to buy a cricket to fight against the others.” Nil said.

Soon after, Nil was lead to a local market to choose crickets. After a prudent choice, he finally chose a big cricket. He said: “I think if its fighting skill is not good, its weight can have certain advantage.”

Nil couldn’t help to get back to the fighting field. When he took his cricket, an old man stopped him. The old man got a scale and put Nil’s cricket in a professional container, then chose a player with the same weight before beginning the competition. Nil was surprised and said “I never thought insects had weight classes in this competition. It has the same rules as boxing in America.” After a fierce fight, Nil’s cricket finally died. Nil carefully collected the corpse of the cricket. He said “It is my warrior. I had the feeling of being a general for the first time in my life. My soldier died for me in battle.”

This experience gave Nil a love for this sport. Nil studies the culture of fighting crickets in order to nurture better “fighters”. It has been 4 years since Nil played fighting crickets. Nil said: “Although I can’t say I know much about the charm and culture of fighting crickets, I like to see my soldiers on the battle field and the scene of a desperate fight.” Now, Nil will go to Hangzhou when he is free. He will chat with his friends who have crickets too. Nil said: “I hope to take my cricket to America. I think some Americans will like these insect fighters.”