Chinese Man Eats Over 2 Pounds of Fried Insects to Win Gold Bar

The man, surnamed Peng, was a visitor to the town of Lijiang in Yunnan Province where the eating contest was held on Sunday, China News reported.

Peng, a resident of Chongqing, won by wolfing down an assortment of bamboo worms and locusts in just five minutes.

According to Yunnan.cn, other participating tourists had to close their eyes out of fear, while some took the challenge wide-eyed.

One woman was able to eat 500 grams before stopping, as she found some of the insects “too dry,” and that some of the black ones “tasted terrible.”

Peng said that it was his first time trying the local specialty and called it “delicious.” The worth of his gold bar prize has not been reported, but it must have been substantial enough to be very motivating.

As per South China Morning Post, Yunnan has been consuming insects for centuries, even before their protein content attracted Western interests. As a matter of fact, the province takes pride in its unique set of edible insects called the “Yunnan insect banquet.” Specialties include bamboo grubs, cicadas, dragonflies and silk worms, CNN noted.