Flowers, birds, fish, and insects are said to be the four great pastimes of Beijing’s culture, and this market has them all: peonies and chrysanthemums in bright splashes of colour; birds fluttering and calling in bamboo cages or soaring skywards to perform tricks; goldfish in brightly coloured buckets; and crickets kept for their song, with the miniature paraphernalia to pamper them as much as any Pekinese.
