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Fish, birds, feathers and ferns
The Beijing Guanyuan Pets Market is also called The Fish, Bird and Insect
Market. When a visitor enters, the first thing to tickle your ear drums is the
wonderful sound of singing birds. It would be so n
ice to hear such colorful
melodies in the second ring road or city's downtown area, so everyone would be
tempted to explore this market. Having a pet is a popular pastime in China. Many
an old man whiles away the hours teaching his birds to say "ni hao" and almost
everyone has had a pet katydid at some point. This market is where local people
come to indulge their hobbies.
The Guanyuan Market sells all kinds of plants and animals, from crickets to
rare breeds of cats. In China, cats with one blue eye and one brown eye are
especially treasured and you'll see lots of pet birds in the morning dreaming of
freedom at Tai Chi sessions. There are some creatures at this market you would
only expect to see at the zoo like snakes, lizards, spiders, insects, snails,
tortoises, crabs and fish. Animal rights activists might be bugged by this, but
for everyone else it is a really interesting experience.
There is also a cricket area, with stacks of bamboo cages filled with
crickets chirping loud enough to deafen you! There are land tortoises ambling
around, big iguanas and other lizards-even a boa constrictor! Also in the house,
green snakes, red snakes, strange-looking crabs, weird large snails, squirrels
and a tarantula! Among the normal animals are many aquarium fish, frogs, chicks,
ducklings, piglets, hamsters and rabbits. "I am fascinated by the market. If you
love animals and getting close to odd ones, you should visit," a foreign visitor
said, "If you are an animal-rights activist, maybe you should visit a museum."
Reasonable prices
Since you can find really strange and rare animals at the Guanyuan Market,
the prices are a little high but not unreasonable.
For example, Siamese cats cost from 300 to 800 yuan, Russian Blues 500 to
1,000 yuan, Scottish folds under 1,000 yuan, Persians 300 yuan and common cats
only 30 to 50 yuan. The market also stocks birds, fish and guinea pigs at cheap
prices. Finally, you can buy dog and cat food and tearless shampoo for 30 to 50
yuan. Pet toys are also available.
Visit the Guanyuan Market. It will bring out the animal in
you.
AUTHOR：Gan Tian | 
