NANJING, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- This year's harvest season for China's highly sought-after freshwater crabs began on Wednesday in the Yangcheng Lake in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province.

The tasty and pricey mitten crabs are expected to hit the market around China's National Day holiday in early October, according to the Suzhou municipal agriculture and rural affairs bureau.

A total of 9,900 tonnes of crabs are expected to be harvested this year from a breeding area spanning around 5,426 hectares, the bureau said.

Due to the impact of prolonged high temperatures and influenced by typhoons, crabs have grown slightly slower than in previous years. However, their quality remains excellent, the bureau said.

Chinese people have a custom of eating crabs in autumn when the meat is at its best. The tradition can be traced back to the Han Dynasty (202 B.C. to 220 A.D.).

The crab is considered to be auspicious as the Chinese word for crab is "xie," which has the same pronunciation as the Chinese word for "thanks." Enditem

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