I finished work at 8 p.m. and dragged myself back to my rental apartment in Sanya. As I looked up, a huge unidentified creature was perched on the balcony curtain. With a bulky body and long, slender antennae, I first mistook it for a longhorn beetle, yet it looked nothing like the ones I was familiar with.
I initially felt a little merciful. I planned to wrap it with a tissue and release it downstairs, sparing its life. However, this creature was astonishingly agile. It darted into wall cracks, hid in corners, and vanished from my sight in mere seconds.
Watching its swift movements, I finally realized what it was — a cockroach.
Growing up in Shandong Province, I had never seen a cockroach this massive. The German cockroaches common in northern China are only about one centimeter long. My family always kept a clean house with proper garbage disposal, so cockroaches were rarely seen at home. Even when I did spot them occasionally, their tiny size and ordinariness never bothered me at all.
This Sanya cockroach, however, was a shocking five centimeters in length. Facing such a giant cockroach for the first time, I could not help but feel a chill of fear. I forced myself to stay calm and tried to catch it, but it moved like lightning and disappeared without a trace.
Left with no other options, I immediately ordered cockroach bait online, planning to wait patiently for it to take the bait.
Two hours passed, but the bait remained untouched. Instead of coming out to feed, the cockroach sneaked from the balcony into my room. I attempted to catch it several times, but all my attempts ended in failure.
After a long stalemate, I finally caught its next appearance. It scurried rapidly up the wall toward the ceiling. Without hesitation, I swiped at it with a broom, knocking it straight down. It landed on its back, unable to right itself. To prevent it from escaping and causing more trouble, I finished it off decisively, putting an end to this prolonged battle.
I looked it up online afterward and confirmed it was an American cockroach, completely different from the small German cockroaches in northern China. This species runs rampant across southern China, especially in Hainan. Their large size and incredible agility are exactly why southern cockroaches are so infamous.
After eliminating the pest, I carried out a thorough cleaning and disinfection. I scalded every surface it had crawled on — walls, areas around the curtains, and floor crevices — with boiling water. I also sanitized the sewer and blocked up wall gaps and potential entry points to eradicate hidden nests and prevent future infestations. At last, this thrilling late-night battle between human and insect came to an end.