Poyang Lake Hairy Crabs

Poyang Lake Hairy Crabs

　　Poyang Lake Hairy Crabs are a specialty of Poyang County, Shangrao City, Jiangxi Province. The crabs from Poyang Lake are distinguished by their greenish backs, white bellies, golden claws, and yellow hairs, and are renowned worldwide for being large, plump, fresh, and sweet.

　　Poyang Lake is an internationally important wetland and a major regulating reservoir along the main stem of the Yangtze River. It serves crucial ecological functions such as flood regulation and biodiversity conservation in China’s Yangtze River basin. It is the largest “continental kidney” in China, one of the country’s top ten ecological function protection areas, the only member of the global Living Lakes Network in China, and also recognized as one of the world’s key ecological zones by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

　　“Poyang Lake Hairy Crabs” have a long history and enjoy an outstanding reputation. At the 9th Poyang Lake Crab Festival in 2010, they were acclaimed as the best among all competing crabs, winning first place. Historically, Poyang Lake crabs have been known for their greenish backs, white bellies, golden claws, and yellow hairs, and celebrated for being large, plump, fresh, and sweet. During the Tang and Song dynasties, many scholars and poets left behind widely cherished verses in praise of the crabs from Poyang Lake.