It may sounds like yet another "out-there" diet, but cicadas are actually one of the most popular summertime dishes in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, especially in the city of Lishui.
知了，听起来像是又一道“黑暗料理”，然而，这可是中国东部浙江省夏季最流行的小吃，尤其是在丽水市。
“Cicadas are high in protein and low in fat; eating cicadas in appropriate quantities is also good for plants and other flora. The only problem is that most of the cicadas people eat now are wild, so it is important to ensure that the cicadas are fully cooked in case of parasites,” said professor Mo Jianchu from Zhejiang University.
浙江大学(分数线,专业设置)教授莫建初表示，“知了含高蛋白低脂肪，吃掉适量的知了对植物生长也有一定好处。唯一的问题是，人们吃的大多数知了都是野生的，携带一些寄生虫，所以烹饪的时候一定要烧熟、烧透。”
Jiang Yongchun, a manager from a local food company, explained that people in rural Lishui have been eating cicadas for many years. Around the end of 1980s, cicadas become a common dish in restaurants. Usually it is a seasonal dish, served from June to September.
当地食品公司总经理蒋永春表示，丽水农村很早就有人吃蝉，从上世纪80年代末开始，蝉出现在了酒店的菜谱上。吃蝉的季节性很强，基本在6月到9月。
During busy times, Jiang said he can sell over 1 ton of cicadas in one day. There are at least six to seven cicada dealers in Lishui, and their daily sales total is between 6 and 7.5 tons. According to these statistics, people in Lishui consume billions of cicadas in the roughly 80 days of "cicada season."
蒋永春说，旺季时知了每天的批发量达1千多公斤。在丽水，专门从事知了批发生意的有6到7家，每天的批发量共1.2万至1.5万斤。初步估算，6月到9月80天的“知了季”里，丽水人会吃掉上亿只知了。
Because of this extensive consumption, the cicadas people eat in Lishui come also from Quzhou, and even some places in Jiangxi province.
随着消费量增大，丽水了这几年还转向浙江衢州甚至江西等地收购。
“Capturing cicadas in appropriate amounts is actually good for the growth of vegetation, though overconsumption does have an impact on the ecological chain. But so far the population has not been influenced, since the cicadas are not only from Lishui but also other places,” professor Mo explained.
莫教授解释说，“适量的捕食知了对蔬菜的生长还是有利的，尽管过量消费确实会对生态链产生影响。不过，由于知了不仅来自丽水，还来自其他地方，迄今为止，未受到影响。”
