--FILE--A Chinese seller, right, shows a cricket to a cricket fighting lover in Shanghai, China, 30 August 2009. Cricket fighting can be traced back to more than 2, 000 years in China where it was popular with emperors, cricket masters and ordinary citizens. There is a whole cricket folk culture around the fighting insects, as well as those that are kept for their singing abilities and charming company. Artwork, painting, literature and poetry are inspired by crickets. Cricket houses or cases can be works of art; slain heroes, with titles, of course, have been buried in elaborate caskets. There are still ceremonies to honor valiant deceased crickets. Today, after hundreds of years, cricket fighting is still popular, especially in eastern China. Though gambling is officially banned, fighting flourishes and cricket culture is increasingly appreciated. More people are getting to know about the art, literature and poetry surrounding crickets, as well as the insects themselves, their habits and habitat.
