Wraps are off as Luojing Town begins harvesting hairy crabs
Residents in Luojing Town show their crab wrapping skills in a competition.
North Baoshan residents began fishing for their district's famous hairy crabs on Saturday.
People from Luojing Town began harvesting the hairy crabs from ponds and rice fields.
This year's hairy crabs are about 100 grams heavier than previous years, thanks to favorable weather.
Luojing crabs are known for their size, long legs, tighter meat and rich roe as well as a slight, naturally sweet flavor. They grow within the city's tap water source conservation area at the mouth of the Yangtze River.
The crabs spawn there every October, and villagers catch the biggest baby crabs and raise them in ponds and rice fields. It takes two years, twice as long as for other hairy crabs, for them to grow to full size. Yangtze River crabs are fed with fresh snails, algae, corn, fish and beans.
The biggest male crab in the first batch weighed 460 grams, compared with 455 grams last year, while the "queen crab" weighed 330 grams.
“The year 2020 is a great harvest year for hairy crabs,” said Bo Huizhong, Party secretary of Haixing Village of Luojing.
Total sales of the crabs are expected to reach 180 million yuan (US$25.7 million), he said.
A crab-wrapping and darting competition was held among villagers and tourists to celebrate the Farmers' Harvest Festival. Villagers were asked to wrap each crab in the traditional way with straw rope to prevent them from struggling while being steamed.
Officials from Luojing Town showcase the biggest male and female hairy crabs harvested this year.
Residents and tourists in Luojing take part in games to celebrate the harvest.
Hundreds of people also raced through the countryside of Luojing on Saturday to experience the natural atmosphere of the open countryside, paddy fields and forest.
Runners were also invited to harvest grain while enjoying the fresh air in the city's showpiece rural revitalization areas near the mouth of the Yangtze River.
These races through Luojing are now in their fourth year and have become more popular as word spreads of the beautiful countryside.
The rice produced, together with crayfish, in the town was awarded the gold prize at the 19th China Green Food Expo last year, while its Yangtze River hairy crab has been awarded the gold prize in a national crab competition for seven consecutive years.
The crab bonanza and annual jogging event are part of the town’s efforts to develop tourism to attract gourmands from downtown. The town wants people to enjoy its pastoral scenery, taste and even catch the hairy crabs themselves and witness how much of the city’s agricultural products originate in the town, said Yang Xin, director of Luojing.
Baoshan villages are among the richest in Shanghai. The rural economic volume of the district reached 60.3 billion yuan by the end of 2019.
Tangwan Village has been listed as one of the city's first batch of demonstration villages to implement the central government's rural revitalization plan. It will now be followed by four neighboring villages — Haixing, Huahong, Xinlu and Yangqiao — to become an agricultural demonstration zone.
Children take part in a fun run.
A toy tent proves popular.
