White Horse Lake Hairy Crabs

White Horse Lake Hairy Crabs

White Horse Lake Hairy Crabs are a product certified with a Geographical Indication for Agricultural Products.

　　White Horse Lake boasts a history of over 7,000 years, while the legacy of its Hairy Crabs can be traced back 2,500 years to the excavation and completion of the Grand Canal. The eastern section of the Hangou Canal, which includes White Horse Lake, receives water from the Grand Canal. In the past, Hairy Crab larvae were spawned in the offshore waters near the mouth of the Yangtze River. After growing into juvenile crabs, they would migrate upstream against the Yangtze, then smoothly enter White Horse Lake through the canal system to grow. The lake’s lush aquatic vegetation and crystal-clear waters created ideal conditions for the crabs’ development. The abundance of water plants and the long history of crab habitation in the lake area are well documented. During the late Ming Dynasty, the talented scholar Zheng Zhengzhong from Baoying wrote the poem “White Horse Lake”: “Frosty moonlight spreads across White Horse Lake, fishing boats sway gently by the reeds. Nets haul in giant crabs with fat as white as jade, wishing to beg this lake for the Emperor.” The Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai once praised: “Crab claws are nectar, fermented grains hills are Mount Penglai. Let us drink fine wine and get drunk on high towers under the moon.” In 1951, following Chairman Mao’s call to “ensure the Huai River is properly controlled,” a project was launched to dig the Subei Irrigation Main Canal—stretching 174 kilometers across four counties (cities) in Huai’an and Yancheng—connecting Hongze Lake to the coast of the Yellow Sea. Construction began in the winter of 1951 and was completed the following spring. Since then, White Horse Lake has gained another outlet to the sea, also forming a new migration channel for its Hairy Crabs. Today, Hairy Crabs have become an important species for stocking in White Horse Lake’s enhanced fishery, laying a solid foundation for maintaining both the yield and flavor of these crabs.

　　White Horse Lake Hairy Crabs are produced in White Horse Lake, located in the northeastern part of Jinhu County, Jiangsu Province. Nestled at the border between Huai’an and Yangzhou cities, the lake features 99 islands and spans over 30,000 acres of water surface. With its vast waters and crystal-clear lake, it serves as a water source protection zone for the Eastern Route of China’s South-to-North Water Diversion Project and is a national pollution-free agricultural product production base. The lake is renowned for its premium aquatic products such as clear-water Hairy Crabs, soft-shell turtles, lobsters, green shrimp, and turtles. These are sold both domestically and internationally thanks to their ecological farming practices and green food advantages, especially the long-renowned White Horse Lake Hairy Crabs. Farmed ecologically, White Horse Lake Hairy Crabs are prized for their rich roe, plump texture, and delicious taste, earning widespread fame and distribution.

　　White Horse Lake Hairy Crabs have long been hailed as the king of crabs, a reputation closely tied to the lake’s unique ecological environment. Covering hundreds of square kilometers, the lake features rippling blue waters, mirror-like clarity, hard and deep lakebeds, abundant and sprawling aquatic plants, a pleasant climate, and is the most ideal “crystal palace” for crabs to settle and grow. There are no pollution sources around the lakeside farmlands. Lush trees, crisscrossing fields, the blend of sky and water, and flocks of gulls and egrets create an enchanting natural setting. As a result, the crabs grown here stand out among their peers with four distinctive characteristics:

　　First is their greenish-black back—the shell is bluish-gray to dark green with a smooth and glossy finish. Second is their snow-white belly—the underside of the shell near the mud is pearly white with no black smudges.

　　Third is their yellow bristles—the hairs on the legs are long and yellow, sleek and orderly. Fourth is their golden claws—the claws are golden, sturdy, and powerful. When placed on a glass surface, the crab stands firmly on all eight legs, its pincers raised, its back arched, exuding an imposing aura.

　　The meat is tender, delicious, and highly nutritious. According to experts, every 100 grams of White Horse Lake crab meat contains 14 grams of protein, 13 milligrams of iron, 0.71 milligrams of riboflavin, and 5,960 international units of vitamin A. Aside from being a premium delicacy with high nutritional value, White Horse Lake Hairy Crabs also offer certain medicinal benefits. According to “Compendium of Materia Medica” and other ancient Chinese medical texts, crabs can help reduce fever, aid digestion, and treat stomach ailments. In the early Republican era, Dr. Shi Jinmo—one of Beijing’s Four Great Doctors and a famous crab enthusiast—categorized crabs from different regions into six grades: lake crabs, river crabs, stream crabs, creek crabs, ditch crabs, and sea crabs. Among them, lake crabs were ranked first, and the large crabs from White Horse Lake were at the top of that grade—one might say they are the top-scorer, the champion of champions.

　　Today, White Horse Lake Crabs have been recognized as a China Well-Known Trademark by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce. This is currently the only seafood brand in China to receive such an honor, marking a monumental shift from being a “famous seafood trademark” to a “China Well-Known Trademark.”

　　White Horse Lake Hairy Crabs

　　Geographic Scope

　　White Horse Lake Hairy Crabs are produced within the 170,000-acre water area of White Horse Lake in Jiangsu Province. The water zone includes towns in Huai’an City such as Nan闸 Town and Fanji Town in Huai’an District, Chahe Town and Renhe Town in Hongze County, Qianfeng Town and Lüliang Town in Jinhu County, as well as areas along the lake in Shanyang Town of Baoying County, Yangzhou City—covering a total of four counties (districts), seven towns, and 32 administrative villages. The geographical coordinates lie between 119°02′ to 119°13′ east longitude and 33°20′ to 33°09′ north latitude. The naturally grown and net-enclosed farmed White Horse Lake Hairy Crabs cover a total area of 170,000 acres, yielding approximately 3,200 metric tons of marketable crabs annually.

　　Product Quality Characteristics

　　1. Sensory Characteristics: White Horse Lake Hairy Crabs exhibit distinct regional features in appearance. Their carapace is bluish-gray or dark green with full, rounded ridges, and their plastron is milky white without rust spots. The junction of the carapace and plastron is slightly bulging. The crabs have long appendages and graceful forms. Adult crabs have thick brownish bristles on their claws and slender walking legs covered in reddish-brown bristles. Due to the long-term aquatic plant environment resulting in minimal wear, their legs are sharp, golden-yellow, and notably longer than those of other crab species. The second segment of their second walking leg is 1.2–1.37 times the length of the terminal segment—compared to 0.8–1.03 times in crabs from neighboring waters. Viewed from underneath, their bodies are clean white, limbs splayed gracefully, resembling a blooming crab-claw chrysanthemum. Based on individual weight, they are classified into Special Grade, First Grade, and Second Grade. Classification criteria must comply with Table 1. Table 1: Grading Standards for White Horse Lake Hairy Crabs | Category | Individual Weight (g) | Deformity Rate (%) | Damage Rate (%) | |--------------|-----------------------|---------------------|------------------| | Special Grade | Male ≥200, Female ≥150 | ≤2 | ≤5 | | First Grade | Male 150–200, Female 125–150 | – | – | | Second Grade | Male 125–150, Female 100–125 | 2 | – | 2. Internal Quality Indicators: From mid-October to mid-November, market-ready White Horse Lake Hairy Crabs are large, plump, and rich in roe. Their physicochemical indicators must meet the values in Table 2. Table 2: Physicochemical Indicators for White Horse Lake Hairy Crabs | Indicator | Value | |-------------------|-------------| | Crude Protein (%) | ≥16.4 | | Crude Fat (%) | ≥11.10 | | Ash (%) | ≤2.0 | | Moisture (%) | ≤67.36 | 3. Safety Requirements: The production environment of White Horse Lake Hairy Crabs complies with GB/T 18407.4-2001 “Agricultural Product Safety Quality – Non-polluting Aquatic Product Production Area Environmental Requirements.” The final products meet GB 18406.4-2001 “Agricultural Product Safety Quality – Non-polluting Aquatic Product Safety Requirements.”