As South China Morning Post reporter Stephen Chen tells it:
"Long, narrowly spaced rows of shelves fill a multi-storey building about the size of two sports fields. The shelves are lined with open containers of food and water.
It is warm, humid and dark all year round, with freedom to roam to find food and reproduce. Fully sealed like a prison, it has strict limitations on access to visitors. From birth to death, inhabitants never see the sun."
Each facility relies on AI to continually collect and analyze more than 80 categories of data. These include humidity, temperature, food supply and consumption, as well as genetic mutations and modeling future growth.
This is important data for a country where more than 40 million people consume crushed-up roach concoctions due to their perceived health benefits. (In case you’re wondering — which you almost certainly are not — it’s reported that the roach potions look like tea, have a bit of a fishy smell, and taste slightly sweet.)