Chongming celebrates the return of freshwater crab season
This year's first net of Chongming freshwater crabs was caught in Luhua Town on November 7.
It is a good harvest year for Chongming freshwater crabs. The female crabs weigh more than 200 grams on average, and the male crabs generally weigh more than 250 grams.
A ceremony at the local crab restaurant Baodao Crab Farm unveiled the "Tangerine and Crab" Cultural Tourism Festival and kicked off the year's crab season.
A series of activities such as crab banquets, crab-eating competitions and crab fun blind boxes have been held one after another, attracting a large number of tourists who've participated enthusiastically.
In the crab fun blind box activity, tourists can draw 2-8 freshwater crabs for only 50 yuan (US$7.82).
Baodao Crab Farm supplies freshwater crab ingredients and carries out crab banquet catering training for five local hotels and homestays.
The farm is a green, ecological breeding base of Chongming freshwater crabs and a model example of circular agriculture in Shanghai.
The "Baodao" branded Chongming freshwater crab is the first green-certified freshwater crab establishment on Chongming Island.
The "Tangerine and Crab" Cultural Tourism Festival is a famed activity in Luhua and part of the nationwide Chinese farmers' harvest festival.
This year, Luhua's event is themed on "enjoying crabs in the golden autumn." The area includes a national 3A scenic spot Green Port Garden – a popular tourist site among locals.
The town uses offline activities and livestreaming events to promote the integration of food and tourism. This, combined with the creative and unique experiences that the town offers, creates a new tourism landmark "Luhua Green Port; Shanghai Crab Harbor."
In recent years, with the establishment of the Xisha Mingzhu Lake national 5A scenic spot and the construction of Xisha Country Park, Luhua has continued to strengthen the development of tourism projects and deeply explored brand development ideas centered around the town's crab culture.
In the next stage, the town will add 133 hectares of breeding area to expand the scale of freshwater crab breeding.
It will continue to refine and strengthen freshwater crab, tangerine and other special local industries, as well as vigorously promote the strategy of rural revitalization.
