One of my favorite things about Chinese cities in general is the sound of cicadas. As I sit typing in what will be my library/office once my books arrive, I can hear the ciadas in the trees eleven floors below. But the best cicada experience is to wander down a small tree-covered lane and listen to the undulating sound they make. I recorded the following bit of cicada sound while strolling through a touristy set of streets known as Kuanzhai xiangzi 宽窄巷子. Although it’s clearly a tourist trap, it’s so attractive and has such style and seeming haphazardness that it’s hard not to love it.