Dong Yue Temple and Museum of Folk Customs
Went to the Museum of Folk Customs behind Dong Yue Temple with Laurens and Yam, and also met Christophe and Ise [filmmakers from Paris] and two of their students from Tianjin. Lots of interesting cricket paraphernalia although not much info in English or Chinese. Amazing gourds the acoustics of which are perfected for amplifying the cricket singing inside. Also fighting arenas and pocket cricket containers. These finely crafted wooden cricket containers were so like mobile phones or ipods in terms of size and portability it was uncanny. Nathaniel Mann in the UK passed on an undergrad essay he wrote drawing comparisons between ipods and singing pet crickets and he was certainly on to something. Other items which interested me were the pigeon whistles. These create a particular tone [or maybe song] as a result of the wind passing through them when the pigeons fly.
