Applause for claws

In Chongming's Lyuhua township, 10 bed-and-breakfast guesthouses featuring crab-tasting sessions have opened this year. The town also held a crab-tasting festival on Nov 7 that featured eating competitions and activities such as catching crabs.

Yang Lihua, Party chief of the township, says crab-related tourism will continue and an aquaculture project－a 130-hectare crab pond powered by solar panels－will be launched.

But to Huang, who is currently the president of Shanghai River Crab Industry Association, it is a focus on quality and not quantity which will lead the industry to greater success.

"People started to ask me for hairy crabs during the National Day holiday in October, but I insisted on waiting till November to sell," he says.

"This year, autumn came later than usual, so we delayed the harvest of the crabs by around two weeks," he explains, adding that the best time to harvest the crabs would be when daytime temperatures were below 15 C.

While crabs from Yangcheng Lake still command the highest market share in Shanghai, those from Chongming are also becoming increasingly popular.