On June 11, 2016, I arrived at Xiaobu Town, one of Jiangxi’s top ten tourist towns.
The night scenery here is beautiful, under the gentle glow of dim lights, it presents a tranquil and stunning world. This revolutionary red soil has transformed into a scenic tourist destination through the efforts of the local people. The sounds of frogs and insects play the world’s oldest music.
Without these lights, only darkness would remain after nightfall. Post-rain Xiaobu, with its refreshing air entering my lungs, had plants lining the roadsides appearing pitch black, their outlines visible against the dark.
As urgent river waters continuously collided with everything blocking their path after the rain, walking through dense vegetation left me puzzled: How could there be no fireflies? In such a picturesque place, why were there no fireflies?
Passing through tidy, lengthy streets and winding paths, my rain-drenched hair dried and dampened again. Longing for the night, I was unable to find even a hint of true light. The first time I saw fireflies in this town was in a net, three nets each containing about a hundred fireflies. Weakly glowing in their hopeless struggle, the fireflies remained trapped in the nets, unable to escape. These nets captured the splendid and romantic love of fireflies, and their fate was sealed from the moment they were caught. Destined to be taken to another city, they became sacrifices for people’s pursuit of romance.
Later, I discovered that the place to see the most fireflies in this town was at the firefly purchasing points. Captured fireflies would be taken away by deliverymen the following day. Every day, batches of fireflies were sent away by local buyers, leaving behind an endless night in every corner of this beautiful town without lights.
I heard that once upon a time, Xiaobu Town’s nights were filled with fireflies flashing among the forests, fields, and waters. However, all of this is now a thing of the past. To capture fireflies, people moved beyond Xiaobu Town to nearby villages such as Daguxiang, Huangpizhen, Caijiangxiang, Diaofengxiang, and Anfuxiang, even venturing deeper into remote mountain forests. Under the drive of economic profit, the number of fireflies continued to decrease—from initially catching three to four hundred per person to now catching barely a hundred. This included capturing from nearby forests to other towns, and even capturing in remote mountain forests requiring a two-hour motorcycle ride. During the period from 2009 to 2016, the firefly population in Ningdu County sharply declined.
Will the frenzy of catching fireflies only come to an end when there are no more fireflies left to catch?
In cities, one can hardly see the shadow of a firefly. Similarly, in Xiaobu Town, it is almost impossible to spot fireflies in the wild. As this frenzy continues, I earnestly request the Forestry Bureau to intervene promptly to stop this bloody romantic disaster. If not promptly halted, the firefly population in Ningdu is likely to become extinct.
“Rain makes it hard to extinguish lights, wind makes colors brighter. If not for the sky, they would become stars by the moon.” —Li Bai’s “Ode to Fireflies”. From ancient times to the present, the Chinese people have had a unique affection for fireflies. Even today, children in urban areas who have never seen fireflies in their lives still yearn for them. However, this romantic sentiment associated with fireflies has been exploited by unscrupulous businessmen, capturing fireflies from forests and fields to satisfy urbanites’ desire for admiration. As a result, the number of fireflies in rural areas has sharply declined, while urban environments are unsuitable for the fragile fireflies to thrive and reproduce. At the moment of their release, people are happy, celebrating a visual feast of death, as batches of fireflies are taken away to perish.
It is reported that firefly conservation is thriving in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Taiwan, bringing significant social and ecological benefits. For instance, the Japanese government even abandoned railway construction to protect and observe fireflies, with concerted efforts from government agencies, research institutions, and NGOs establishing numerous firefly viewing sites, attracting large numbers of tourists annually.
Fireflies have stringent environmental requirements, making them an indicator species for environmental health. Xiaobu Town, as an ecological town, sadly no longer witnesses fireflies dancing in the sky.
Do not underestimate the importance of a single insect; it is also an essential link in the food chain.
I hope that government officials can take effective measures, making up for lost opportunities, allowing these beautiful spirits to dance freely in the sky of Xiaobu Town once again.