It’s a fact that China, even in the heart of it’s huge megalopolian (sic) capital, has a connection to nature that surprises. There is a wild ferret-like animal which lives in my complex, a lanky type of creature which does not run like a cat but instead gallops, it’s long back arching with each stride. There are also bats by the hundreds in any part of the city, which I cannot recall seeing in New York, and the local canals erupt in the evenings with choruses of frogs. I seem to recall hearing somewhere that the presence of amphibians is one of the simpler signs of a healthy ecosystem, and while I cannot give any kind of word towards the long-term viability of these populations, their presence is a comfort.