It's time for the chrysanthemums to bloom and the crabs to fatten again. In September, citizens visiting farmers' markets began to look out for the appearance of freshwater crabs: they should be on the market soon... Yesterday, it was learned that the most famous Yangcheng Lake freshwater crabs will be available in Wenzhou around September 20 this year.
The freshwater crab market usually opens in late September each year, coinciding with the Mid-Autumn Festival gift crab sales period. According to information from Wenzhou Yangcheng Lake freshwater crab dealers yesterday, due to increased protection efforts for the natural ecological lake of Yangcheng Lake, the breeding area has been reduced, leading to a limited cultivation area for the freshwater crabs. This year, prices for the freshwater crabs will slightly increase for the farmers, but the retail price at counters is still expected to remain level with last year. These days, Mr. Gao, who has been operating Yangcheng Lake freshwater crabs for many years on Jiangbin West Road in the city district, is busy printing pre-sale coupons, tidying up his store, and contacting old customers, all in preparation for the opening sale on the 22nd of this month. It is said that the price will be about the same as last year.
After more than 3 months of renovations at the Century Lianhua Nanguo store aquatic products section, they are now awaiting the arrival of the freshwater crabs. Unlike previous years when they sold mixed brands of freshwater crabs or set up Yangcheng Lake freshwater crab specialty counters, this year the headquarters of Century Lianhua will directly cooperate with Yangcheng Lake crab farmers. The supermarket will take over a certain water surface area as a direct supply base, then distribute to various branches within the province. The direct supply method can save procurement costs for the supermarket and eliminate the price difference of middlemen agents, meaning that consumers may be able to buy cheaper Yangcheng Lake freshwater crabs at the supermarket. Guo, the person in charge of the fresh produce department at the Century Lianhua Nanguo store, stated that the current top priority is to solve the logistics issue to ensure the freshness of the freshwater crabs.
According to southern Chinese customs, there is a saying of "nine females and ten males," which means eating female crabs in the lunar month of September and male crabs in October. Therefore, during the initial market release of freshwater crabs, domestic market sales of female crabs are better than male crabs. However, this rule doesn't apply in Wenzhou. During the interview, it was found that regardless of which period after the market release, male crabs sell much better than female crabs in the market. Mr. Gao, who also runs a Yangcheng Lake freshwater crab branch in Hangzhou, made some observations and comparisons: in Hangzhou, the sales ratio of male to female crabs can at least be split fifty-fifty, but in Wenzhou, the majority of sales are male crabs. Out of 100 Wenzhounese, 98 prefer male crabs; because eating female crabs is for the crab roe, which contains cholesterol, while eating male crabs is for the crab paste, which does not contain cholesterol. Wenzhounese, who place greater emphasis on health preservation, therefore prefer male crabs.