Walking along the 1,000-meter Bajie Lu of Bacheng, a watertown in nearby Jiangsu Province, one is lost in the world of crab -- the street has over 100 restaurants, all with a "crab" theme.

Just look at the restaurant names: "Crab City," "Crab King," "Everyday Crab Harbor," "Crab Commander"... one can imagine how business is booming during crab season, which runs from October to November.

There is also a folk story behind the street's name. In ancient times, the hero "Bajie" defeated the "hard-shell, sharp claw" monster with fire, and then found its meat tasted marvelous.

The crab town beside Yangcheng Lake -- famous for farming high-quality crabs due to its water quality -- attracted about 750,000 travelers in 2003, according to statistics from the Bacheng Town government.

The street's diners include not only locals and those from nearby towns, but also visitors from Shanghai and Hangzhou.

"The reputation of Yangchen Lake crabs has been built up since the 1990s. So many diners drive here to taste the authentic Yangchen Lake crab," said crab farmer Lin Xiaogen, also owner of a crab restaurant named "Shanghai."

"You know, most of our diners are from Shanghai," Lin explained. It takes Shanghainese just one and a half hours to drive to the town via the Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway, so it makes a good weekend trip.

Booming business

"Usually, diners eat about 800 crabs every day in my restaurants. Just for this supper-time, about 20 tables (each with 10 seats) have been booked. We prepare two crabs, one male, one female, for each diner, and some diners will also take crabs home," said Mao Yiming, manager of Yaoyue Restaurant, one of the most prosperous restaurants in Bacheng.

But the flourishing business is just beginning, as the best time to taste crabs should be mid-October. As the old saying goes, "When the paddy is harvested, the crab shell turns yellow."

The baby crabs are put into farms in February, and grow to 150-250 grams by September, depending on the weather, water quality and feeding skills. Farmers will harvest all crabs before December, as the crabs die in winter.

Like Mao and Lin, most local restaurants owners have their crab farms in Yangchen Lake; the vast body of water is divided among the contractors by nets.

In Bacheng alone, 2,200 locals contract to farm crab and over half of its residents, approximately 18,000 people, are involved in the crab business - farming, dining, trading and traveling.

Mao has contracted four hectares of water to raise crabs, and last year he harvested 5,000 tons -- at least 160 yuan (US$19.30) per kilogram. The price of the biggest crabs has even doubled.

"This year there will be a better harvest, say six to seven tons, as the rain is abundant and insects and illness threatening crabs are down," said Lin. "But it's hard to say as most crabs are still in the water."

Lin would not say how much he would earn from the business, but obviously, the residents of the town can make a lot of profit from the industry. The three-storey, well-decorated restaurant on Bajie Lu is valued at 750,000 yuan (US$90,470) now, and the local property price exceeds 3,000 yuan (US$362) per square meter.

"Generally, crab farmers can earn from 1 million yuan (US$120,000) to 5 million (US$603,000) each year," said Lin. And the business is in typical family style -- almost all family members help run restaurants or trade -- but leave the hardest work of farming to migrant workers or other locals.

In addition to consumption in local restaurants, many crabs are transported to big hotels and restaurants elsewhere, such as Shanghai, Hangzhou and even Hong Kong and Macao.

With the Asian financial hub of Shanghai nearby, local farmers have more business opportunities. On September 26, the last day of the Shanghai Grand Prix held in Anting, Mao prepared 360 big crabs for F1 spectators from Hong Kong. "I sent the crabs, kept in boxes, to Hongqiao Airport, so that spectators could take them home after the F1."

"The information era provides a faster channel for trading. Now about 50 percent of the crabs in my farm will be exported for a better price," Mao said. But he hopes his son, now at university, will go abroad and not follow in his crab-rearing footsteps, saying, "It's too tiring."

(Shanghai Star October 14, 2004)