Swarms of locusts flew into this capital city of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Friday, leaving the beautiful urban scene in a chaotic mess. 

 

Brown locusts could be found everywhere in the city -- on trees, grassland, streets, walls and windows. The insects gnawed at leaves, grass and anything they could eat.

 

The surfaces of the major streets of the city were covered with numerous locusts killed by cars, accompanied by the tree leaves they had bitten off.

 

Dead locusts had been piled up on the sides of streets, with a strong stink permeating in the air.

 

As soon as sanitary workers swept the dead locusts off the streets, more landed.

 

"If you don't keep sweeping them away, the locusts will cover up the whole door curtain within ten minutes," said Zhang Xiaofeng, a boss of a barbershop on Qingchengxiang Street.

 

Wang Fengying, 84, who has lived in the city for 67 years, said she had never seen so many locusts.

 

Mostly coming from nearby prairies and farmland, the locusts were attracted by the city's strong night lights, said Bai Quanjiang, an expert with the regional Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

 

(People’s Daily August 2, 2003)