Kindgo
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Sun Jul 14, 4:13 AM ET
BEIJING (Reuters) - Swarms of locusts have invaded the Chinese capital, littering busy walkways and prompting gourmets to reach for their woks, Chinese newspapers has reported.
Reuters Photo
The main daily in southern Guangdong province, where people notoriously cook and eat anything that moves, put the rare phenomenon on the front page.
"I've lived in Beijing for more than 20 years and I've never seen so many locusts," said professor Zhang Long, of the agriculture university.
Zhang told the Beijing Youth Daily the locust swarms must have been the result of recent hot weather and wind direction.
Temperatures in the capital have hit the high 30s, the heat and humidity pushing even the hardiest citizens indoors.
Several papers played down the freak incident, which saw children rushing to fill plastic bags with insects. Locusts posed no threat to society, they advised, and could be killed with normal insecticides.
The Guangzhou Daily, which serves a clientele of mainly Cantonese-speaking southerners, reminded readers that locusts could be made into a tasty and nourishing dish.
Around Tianjin too, just a couple of hours drive from Beijing, deep-fried locusts are a local speciality.
None of the papers mentioned the threat of locust plagues in other parts of vast China which has prompted the government to pour 50 million yuan into killing the pests before they migrate to valuable crop land.
State media have quoted senior officials as saying that 2002 could be a "serious year" for locusts after years of drought in some areas and degradation of the environment.
State media said locusts had hit 29 million hectares (72 million acres) of wasteland in northern China in June but there was no apparent damage to farmland.
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God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
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