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Day-trippers savor island’s seasonal delicacies and a change of pace

By Jiang Xinhua | November 23, 2013, Saturday | Print Edition

Taking a leisurely stroll or cycling around Chongming Island in a light breeze makes for a delightful autumn day. Picturesque scenery and seasonal delicacies such as freshwater crabs, tangerines and taro all make for a fun and quick getaway from downtown Shanghai.

Here you can sink your teeth into fresh autumn food with family or friends. Shanghai Daily recommends several places worth visiting this autumn.

(Jiang Xinhua)

Crisp taro and Chinese yam

Chongming produces high-quality taros and yams. Both are known for helping the body stay warm during the winter.

Almost every Chongming family grows their own taro. The big leaves on the ground look similar to lotus leaves. Shining in the sunlight, they look like a group of girls with green umbrellas dancing in the breeze.

Full of vitamins A and C, Chongming crisp taro is known for its soft texture and savory smell. Chongming residents have three favorite ways to cook it — with soy sauce, in a duck soup, or with chopped green onions. Taro is also one of the traditional dishes for the Mid-autumn Festival.

Every winter, the most popular vegetable in Chongming is the sweet potato. Although it looks ugly, yams are full of calcium and zinc. According to traditional Chinese medicine, yams are good for the spleen and kidney. Sweet potatoes can be stewed, fried or baked.

Chongming freshwater crabs

Casting off the reputation of being “black and small,” Chongming hairy crabs are now gaining popularity in the market as they are bigger with plump and tasty roe and delicate meat.

With a bright cyan back, white abdomen, golden claws and dense yellow hair, these crabs are seriously tasty.

Shanghai residents have always crowned Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs in neighboring Jiangsu Province as the best and they are considered a must every autumn.

However, fierce competition and dishonesty in the market — some vendors sell “shower crabs,” which are raised in another lake or river but transferred to Yangcheng Lake and dipped in it for a few seconds and then sold as “authentic” Yangcheng Lake crabs — have led to people trying crabs from different places.

Chongming Island has a long history of breeding hairy crabs from the Yangtze River.

“Chongming hairy crabs used to have the nickname wu xiao xie (ÎÚСЕ), or ‘dark small crab,’ because the water they live in is too salty. Most male crabs would weigh less than 150 grams while females were under 100 grams. But things are different this year,” says Huang Chun, president of the Shanghai River Crab Industry Association.

“With technological innovation and scientific cultivation, male crabs can reach 200 to 250 grams. The females can weigh 150 grams. Also, this year, there are 6,000 mu (400 hectares) of hairy crab farms in Chongming,” Huang says.

Wang Wu, a professor at Shanghai Ocean University, says research has allowed them to help farmers breed better and bigger crabs.

“We are very strict in selecting the best juvenile hairy crabs according to their size and shape from the mouth of the Yangtze River,” Wang says. “We also grow their favorite water plants in the ponds to create the best environment. The plants provide shelter from the hot sun in the summer and we also have limits on how many crabs can be bred per hectare.”

Baodao Crab Farm in Luhua Town offers a wide variety of things to do. Baodao has a restaurant serving crabs fresh from their own ponds and offers guests a chance to catch their own crustaceans. There is also an exhibition about the breeding habits of the little critters and accommodation is available.

Close to Xisha Wetland and Mingzhu Lake, the farm has beautiful scenery along with a good restaurant.

Aside from crabs, freshwater fish and nong jia cai (Å©¼Ò²Ë), or countryside dishes, are served. All in all, it offers a good learning experience on how crabs go from lake to plate.

Hybrid rice

Chongming is also famous for its high-quality hybrid rice. The variety of rice known as Han You Xiang Qing is somewhat chalky but is known for its good taste.

It has also reached the first-class national standard, according to the Shanghai Seed Control Station’s test center.

The rice has been planted in Chongming for more than 10 years and now has a cultivation area of about 10,720 hectares.

The Ying Lu brand of the rice received “National Green Food” recognition in 2004. The Bei Hu brand was honored “Organic Product” by the China Organic Food Certification Center in 2006.

The paddies where the rice is grown are all weeded by hand. Ducks, frogs and solar pest-killing lights are used to prevent and kill pests.

Tangerines

Tangerines are in season from October to December. Chongming Island has many tangerine orchards that allow guests to walk around and smell the pleasant fragrance of the sweet yet tart fruit.

“Chongming started planting tangerines nearly 30 years ago and now has 5,800 hectares planted, representing 90 percent of the city’s total. It is the only fruit Shanghai exports and the average output is around 190,000 tons each year,” says Fan Kaifeng, an official from the Chongming Agriculture Commission.

Thanks to a good climate and less use of pesticides, Chongming tangerines have won many awards due to their thin peels and juiciness.

Luhua Town hosts an annual tangerine festival, which is underway now, and it is one of the main producers of tangerines on the island.

If you go

• By car: Changjiang Tunnel Bridge Expressway — Chenhai Road — Sanhua Road — Mingzhu Lake

• By bus: Shenchong No. 3 Bus starts from Wenshui Road in Zhabei District; Shenchong No. 6 Bus starts from Jufeng Road in Pudong

• By ferry: Take Metro Line 3 to Baoyang Pier and then take a ferry.

Baodao Crab Farm

Tel: 1370-1821-700

Address: Lugang Village, Luhua Town

Huichun Crab Farm

Tel: 1306-1616-539

Address: Taoyuan Village, Bao Town

Hengtong Crab Farm

Tel: 1370-1798-578

Address: West of Chenjia Town

Luhua Tangerine Field

Tel: 5935-2638

Address: 638 Xinjian Road, Luhua Town

Qianwei Tangerine Field

Tel: 3380-0336

Address: 258 Qianwei Road, Changxing Island

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