China’s appetite for crayfish (longxia; 龙虾) is now well known all over the world. But the side effects of this enormous industry can be surprising, but just as appetising. And one in particular makes a visit to Xuyi worth the trip in itself.
中国对小龙虾的喜爱如今已闻名于世。但这个庞大产业的副作用可能令人惊讶，但也同样令人胃口大开。尤其是盱眙之行本身就值得一游。
As a county of Huai’an City in Jiangsu, Xuyi has become synonymous with crayfish. An enormous crayfish sculpture sits aside the toll booth that announces your arrival, while the Xuyi government building is a piece of modern architecture based on the shape of a crayfish body.
作为江苏淮安市的一个县，盱眙已经成为小龙虾的代名词。收费站旁矗立着一座巨大的小龙虾雕塑，宣告着您的到来，而盱眙政府大楼则是一座以小龙虾身体形状为基础的现代建筑。
Yes, there is no escaping crayfish here.
是的，这里没有小龙虾可以逃脱。
Huai’an is a centre for grain production. Since ancient times, it has been known as “granary of the world” and “hometown of fishing rice”. Located in the alluvial plain of both the Yangtze and Yellow rivers, its crisscrossing rivers and lakes provide for good soil and water quality. With a favourable climate and little pollution, its the perfect spot to grow rice.
淮安是粮食生产中心。自古就有“天下粮仓”、“渔米之乡”的美誉。地处长江、黄河冲积平原，河流湖泊纵横交错，土壤和水质良好。气候宜人，污染少，是种植水稻的理想之地。
And in recent years, rice with a difference. Rice and crayfish grow in identical environments, so local farmers quickly realised they could effectively double their lands’ yields by growing them together. While the crayfish did not seem to mind, the move had quite an effect on the rice.
而近年来，大米有了不同。水稻和小龙虾生长在相同的环境中，因此当地农民很快意识到，通过一起种植它们可以有效地使土地产量翻倍。虽然小龙虾似乎并不介意，但此举却对米饭产生了不小的影响。
In fact, the taste and nutritional value of Xuyi’s Crayfish Rice has been highly recognised by experts from the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences’ Grain Research Institute and the Shanghai Ocean University.
事实上，盱眙小龙虾饭的口感和营养价值得到了上海农科院粮食研究所和上海海洋大学专家的高度认可。
Then in 2017, Xuyi’s Crayfish Rice won a gold award in a national fishing rice competition. And for good reason; not just because of its purple tinge.
2017年，盱眙小龙虾饭荣获全国渔米大赛金奖。这是有充分理由的；不仅仅是因为它的紫色调。
While crayfish may not be to everyone’s taste, the rice derived therefrom is just plain delicious.
虽然小龙虾可能不适合所有人的口味，但用它制成的米饭却非常美味。
The Nanjing Crayfish Connection
南京小龙虾连线
The crayfish in which so many delight is a close cousin to that famed in Louisiana, USA. Imported to Japan for use as feed for the South American bullfrog, the Japanese so too delighted in the crayfish for being low in fat, high in protein and easy to raise.
这种深受人们喜爱的小龙虾与美国路易斯安那州著名的小龙虾是近亲。小龙虾进口到日本用作南美牛蛙的饲料，因其低脂肪、高蛋白质、易于饲养而深受日本人喜爱。
With the defeat of Japan in World War II, so the Japanese soldiers, and many civilians, departed Nanjing. Among the many logistical difficulties, what to do with all the crayfish which many Japanese liked to keep as pets?
随着日本在第二次世界大战中战败，日本士兵和许多平民离开了南京。在诸多后勤困难中，许多日本人喜欢饲养的小龙虾该如何处理？
No right-minded, crayfish-loving Japanese was about to leave their pet to starve. So instead, they plonked them into a lake near Nanjing’s former military airfield (then also the city’s civilian airport) close to Nanjing South Railway Station, where they could feed on both the living and dead organic matter therein.
没有哪个心智正常、热爱小龙虾的日本人会让他们的宠物挨饿。因此，他们将它们扔进了南京南站附近前南京军用机场（当时也是该市民用机场）附近的一个湖中，在那里它们可以以其中的活有机物和死有机物为食。
Here they also multiplied. Fast forward to the 1980s; with living standards improving and people’s diets becoming more varied, so a multitude of crustaceans found their way to the dinner table. As the memory of the Nanjing Massacre was only half a century distant, the crayfish was not one of them.
他们也在这里繁衍。快进到 20 世纪 80 年代；随着生活水平的提高，人们的饮食更加多样化，大量的甲壳类动物进入了餐桌。由于南京大屠杀的记忆距今只有半个世纪，小龙虾并不是其中之一。
Yet the Chinese are not about to let anything go to waste, especially economic opportunity, and so it came to be that the enterprising people of Xuyi, in western Jiangsu, saw fit to spend the next few decades turning their city into a crayfish industrial base.
然而，中国人不会浪费任何东西，尤其是经济机会，因此，江苏西部盱眙的富有进取精神的人们认为，在接下来的几十年里，将他们的城市变成小龙虾产业基地是合适的。
Overall, China is now the world’s biggest exporter of crayfish, while the Chinese themselves chomp their way through more than 90 per cent of global crayfish consumption, over 1 million tons of the beasts each year.
总体而言，中国现在是世界上最大的小龙虾出口国，而中国人自己的小龙虾消费量占全球90%以上，每年超过100万吨。
The Nanjinger reminds to not buy dead crayfish, eat them raw or their heads. Can’t finish them? Do ask for a doggy bag, even with no intention of eating them later; unscrupulous restaurants are known to sell leftovers on as new.
南京人提醒不要买死小龙虾，生吃或者连头吃。无法完成它们？一定要索要一个打包袋，即使以后不打算吃它们；众所周知，无良餐馆会把剩菜当作新菜出售。
