Taihu Lake Crab Season Protocol (太湖蟹季节)
Jiangnan — Yangcheng Lake, Jiangsu Province
The annual hairy crab season (October–December) in the Yangtze Delta is a cultural event as much as a food event. Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs (阳澄湖大闸蟹) are the prestige designation — authenticated with official tags tied to their legs. The crabs are eaten with a specific set of tools (eight pieces of crab utensils), paired with warm aged Shaoxing wine, and eaten in a highly ritualised way to extract every morsel of meat and roe.