Caviar Tasting at the Crab Farms of Yangcheng Lake

This is my pilgrimage as a serious fan of Chinese cuisine.

To Chinese gourmands, the words "Yangcheng Lake" should automatically evoke images of lusciously golden-and-white crab caviar, universally treasured from Hong Kong to Shanghai to Beijing. On my last trip to Hong Kong these adorable little crustaceans were sold at allegedly certified retailers for HKD$180 (CAD$23) for one little palm-sized crab. If you think that’s a bit over the top ... honestly, price isn’t even the problem.



The real issue is -- only 3,000 tonnes are hoisted from the waters of this small lake annually, compared to an estimated 100,000 tonnes marketed as genuine Yangcheng Lake Crabs worldwide. With a counterfeit ratio of 97%, where could one find the genuine genuine Yangcheng Lake Crabs?

It was time for a serious food trip. We purposely scheduled our 17-day trip of Eastern China in the autumn -- just to coincide with the harvest season of the highly prized delicacy at this prestigious locale -- and went on an expedition to a floating crab-farming village on Yangcheng Lake for a taste of the real thing.



I have to clarify -- this really isn’t as crazy as it sounds. The increasingly affluent middle class of Shanghai makes this pilgrimage every year, arriving in the village for a gratifying lunch and carrying home a basket of crabs as precious souvenirs. But I’ve never heard of foreigners coming here, and I did surprise the crab farmers when I called them in my imperfect Mandarin Chinese. As it turned out, the Mandarin Chinese of these Wu-dialect speakers wasn’t so perfect either, and one farmer agreed to drive his boat to the pier and pick us up at 10:30.



Nestled at the centre of the lake is the secluded crab-farming community of Lotus Island (Lianhuadao), accessible only thru the private motor boats of crab farmers and fishermen. Native islanders have worked these waters for generations, but in recent years the village has also opened itself as an agri-tourism destination to the city-dwellers of neighboring Suzhou and Shanghai. Visitors come to indulge in a colossal meal of organic farmhouse specialties, culminating in the climax of not just one, but a male-female pair of Yangcheng Lake Crabs, full of the two distinct and equally delicious forms of caviar.



This is about as certain as you can be about the authenticity of your Yangcheng Lake Crabs, when you’ve just seen the owner returning with fresh crabs from his assigned waters. 10-course feasts featuring TWO crabs per person range from RMB 150 to 250 (depending on your choice of crab sizes) per person with free pick-up from the lakeside, a bargain basement price compared to anything found in Hong Kong or even Shanghai. For comparison we paid RMB 158 the previous night in a Suzhou restaurant for two crabs alone, and those weren’t even Yangcheng Lake Crabs. You simply can’t beat the price-performance ratio here ... and plus ... there’s the bonus of exploring an authentic Chinese fishing village after the meal.



Awaiting our arrival from the 10-minute boat ride was a meticulously prepared feast of monumental proportions. After two weeks of MSG-laden fare from city restaurants, we’re so delighted to find authentic home-cooked dishes deriving from the island’s own fresh produce, starting with cold appetizers such as these Salted Duck Eggs. Remember that everything had to be shipped in by boat at a cost, so you can count on the ingredients to be as locally-sourced as possible.



How good were these organic ingredients? One of my favorite memories of the meal was this unassuming dish of Turnip Salad, which was really nothing more than freshly shredded turnips with perhaps a pinch of sugar and salt. But this was so much better than any turnip / radish I’ve ever tasted in anywhere in the world, so sweet, juicy and crisp, and possessed such a concentrated radish flavor that I could never find in city supermarkets.



Another example was this simple appetizer of Stem Lettuce, a fall and winter favorite of local peasants in Eastern China. Plainly stir-fried and lightly seasoned, these organic vegetables taste a thousand times better than their mass-produced counterparts served elsewhere. This was a bit of an eye-opener for me, as these incredibly fresh and flavorsome veggies were impossible to purchase in metropolitan China and Hong Kong.



The emptied plates kept on piling and suddenly we’re at our fourth appetizer, a cold dish of Chicken Feet in Brine. This Eastern Chinese style of preparation seemed somewhat similar to the Cantonese favorite of White Cloud Chicken Feet, though I still personally preferred the lightly vinegared Cantonese version. Keep in mind that there were only two of us in this attempt to complete a 10-course meal, and you can see why we’re starting to worry about limited stomach room.



After four appetizers we finally arrived at the main courses, starting with this Sauce-Braised Free Range Chicken. While the meat was chewy and flavorful as expected of a free-range bird, I did find the sauce a little light and watery. I knew I shouldn’t judge this harshly though as these weren’t restaurant presentations, but momma’s cooking from the family kitchen of the crab farmer’s wife and aging mother.



Spiny crustaceans aren’t the only produce from these shallow lakebeds, as regional favorites such as periwinkles have also benefitted from the pristine water quality, driven of course by the enormous economic importance of the Yangcheng Lake Crabs. These Stir-Fried Periwinkles with Scallions are a staple in informal Eastern Chinese meals and always seem to come in a dark, savory and mildly spicy soy sauce. Even though the tips of the shells were already sheared off to allow the meat to be sucked out easier, this was still the second most time-consuming dish to finish, next to the crabs.



If you’re wondering how 2 people could manage to finish all this food, to tell you the truth I don’t know either. If this was a regular restaurant and I had choices in ordering, I would have stopped long before this tempting dish of Oil-Braised Manchurian Wild Rice Stems arrived at our table. While I did feel obliged to finish everything and make the old grandma happy, this was getting a little too much.



Just when we thought we were stuffed to our gills, out of the kitchen arrived this HUGE plate of Red-Braised Freshwater Bream, yet another fresh ingredient hoisted by the villagers out of the local waters. While I’m normally not a fan of freshwater fish, the relatively low level of "muddy" flavor in this fish made it quite enjoyable ... and this was after finishing the previous seven dishes. I don’t know how we managed to finish this entire 1 kg fish, but we did, right before the grand entrance of the ONE dish that was the whole reason for this trip.



Presenting the royalty of all Chinese seasonal delicacies -- the rare and highly distinguished Yangcheng Lake Crab.

More expensive than all other dishes of this meal combined, these 4 certified Yangcheng Lake Crabs alone would easily command upwards of HKD$1600 (CAD$205) in specialty restaurants in Hong Kong. But we’re at the home of the farmer who raised these crabs, and the cost they charged here was RMB 150 to 250 (CAD$24 to 40) per pair, depending on crab sizes. It was a no-brainer considering that we had to fly 11 hours to Shanghai -- we went for the largest, plumpest and most expensive crabs at RMB 250 a pair ... and that’s the price including the other 9 courses in this ginormous feast.



I don’t think I need to explain the adrenaline of peeling open these freshly steamed beauties and sucking out the white, sweet and deliciously gooey male caviar. Every fan of Hairy Crabs probably has his or her own reasons for favoring either the male or the female caviar, and for me it’s about the mouthfuls of syrupy, gelatinous male caviar that clings to the tongue and oozes its delicately distinctive flavor. According to the timeless traditions of the local gourmands we arrived at just the right time, during the prime male caviar season in the 10th month of the Lunar Calendar, or about November in the Western calendar. This was the easily the best, and certainly the most voluminous, male caviar I’ve ever had in one crab.



For female caviar however we probably arrived a month too late as per conventional wisdom, and the volume of female caviar was quite average to be honest. But what the crab lacked in quantity, it made up in terms of the quality of its succulent golden caviar. If you’re one of those finicky eaters who get turned off by the characteristic slight bitterness of female caviar, this crab would be perfect as it carried absolutely no hint of bitterness at all.

All this sticky, viscous finger-licking goodness probably blew our cholesterol limit for the week, if not the entire month. But this is what everyone comes to Yangcheng Lake for, and for the two of us living in faraway Canada, this would likely be an experience of a lifetime. I don’t envision the need to return in future even if we pass through Eastern China again -- we’ve already accomplished our ultimate pilgrimage.



Somehow there was still more food to be had, and somehow we did manage to find the last bit of room for this excellent dessert of Sweet Squash Porridge. By now you’ve seen why this feast was worth every single yuan, and why we specifically set aside a half day to make this easy trip from Suzhou. This isn’t something I would recommend for all travelers reading this article, but if you’re as much of a voracious foodie as I am, you already know where your heart is pulling!

Bill for Two Persons

10-Course Set Meal with One Large Pair of Yangcheng Lake Crabs	RMB 250
10-Course Set Meal with One Large Pair of Yangcheng Lake Crabs	RMB 250
TOTAL	RMB 500 (CAD$79)

The added bonus of visiting the remote Lotus Island is a chance to see how the famous Yangcheng Lake Crabs are farmed in their traditional enclosed pens, all scattered methodically in the open waters surrounding the island. It is this system of fishnet gates that gave rise to the popular name of Big Sluice Crabs (Dazhaxie), even though the days of herding crabs through gates and harvesting by hand are long gone. Along with the tempestuous ocean off Alaska where King Crabs are harvested, and perhaps the Hokuriku Coast of Japan, this in my mind would be the mecca for crab eaters.



If you want to have your crab and eat it too, there’s a farmer's market in the village where you can purchase a few crabs and bring back to the cities. We didn’t, as we knew we had enough cholesterol being so well fed for the past two weeks, touring four different provinces in Eastern China. It’s time to wrap up our journey and head back to the starting and ending point of our circular trip, the megapolis of Shanghai.



TRANSPORTATION AND PRACTICALITIES

There are dozens of these informal crab-farming eateries on Lotus Island at the centre of Yangcheng Lake, operating between the official opening date (typically late September) of the crabbing season to the end of the Lunar Calendar Year (January-ish). October and November are generally the best months to visit, the earlier being considered the prime season for female caviar and the latter for male caviar.

To reach Lotus Island, the best approach is to have a Chinese-speaking person call the Crab Farm a couple days ahead (we did it on the same morning, but only because it was a Saturday during peak season) to ensure availability. Agree on a time for the farmer to send a boat to pick you up. But most importantly, some farmers only serve the smaller pier on the north side of the lake which isn’t very accessible by public transit. So make sure the farmer will pick you up at the pier beside the Yangcheng Lake Tourist Centre (Yangchenghu Lvyou Jisan Zhongxin), which is on the west side of the Yangcheng Lake. Write down the time and pier number where the farmer will meet you.

Getting to the Yangcheng Lake Tourist Centre is relatively easy. Start from the Suzhou Train Station and walk downstairs to the local bus station, which is the end terminus for Bus #87. Take this bus for about an hour and get off at the Yangcheng Lake Tourist Centre bus stop, where a side road to the right leads towards a large parking lot. The pier is at the end of the parking lot.

Contact information for our host is as follows:

Crab Farm / Restaurant: Huzhong Xiezhuang
Website: HairyCrabs.com (in Chinese)
Phone: 0512-65442361 (call in Chinese only, ask for the owner Mr.Xu)
Address: Lianhua Village, Yangchenghu Town, Xiangcheng District, Suzhou

Other crab farmers’ phone numbers on our back-up list:

0512-65449686 - Nongjia Xieyuan
13506213873 - Huxian Renjia
13901545955 - Jiaxin Xieyuan
0512-65443797 - Zaizhuiyifang
15962239262 - Fuji
0512-65446213 - Xuji
0512-62270089 - Xiaozhang
15162447096 - Shenji
13913567411 - Xiao Bao

Searching for Old Suzhou

This article is a rebuttal against all the negative reviews of Suzhou as a destination for independent travelers. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.



I’m not here to mask Suzhou’s problems, which also plague most tourist attractions in China, only amplified ten-fold here by the enormous popularity of its UNESCO-World-Heritage-worthy classical gardens. There is an ugly side to Suzhou, best characterized by an infestation of dishonest merchants and schemers preying on unsuspecting visitors, boulevards of foot-massage parlours and KTVs, and extreme overcrowding at its major sights even in the offseason. But there is also an authentic side to this 2500-year-old city of ancient canals and garden villas, often found only a couple blocks from the main tourist routes.



Having limited time we constrained ourselves mostly to sights within the boundary of the moated city, a checkerboard of squared quarters partitioned by the archaic system of canals that gave rise to the nickname “Venice of the East.” In two afternoons we visited three World Heritage garden villas, as well as two intact surviving neighborhoods of waterfront houses built alongside these still navigable canals.



Our route was straightforward -- cheap lunch at the famous Tongdexing noodle house, stroll through the pedestrianized city centre of Guanqian Street, walk east to Pingjiang Road, follow the canal northward for a leisurely 1.5 km until the end of the canal, and end with dinner at the excellent, 100-year-old mansion-restaurant of Wumen Renjia. Featured along this path of willow-lined waterways are three of the best classical gardens anywhere in China, starting with the Couple’s Retreat Garden.



Located on the eastern edge of Suzhou’s old town by the Outer Canal, the Couple’s Retreat Garden is unfortunately underrated and often overlooked by tourists due to its seclusion ... unless they’re going to the nearby Suzhou Zoo. But for us it was the most worthwhile detour to discover this quietly hidden gem, uniquely shielded by canals on three sides and still possessing its own piers on the waterway. This is not only one of the prettiest small gardens, but arguably the most romantic -- after all, this was built as a private haven by a couple deeply in love.



Behind these idyllic courtyards and mansions is the story of a heartbroken scholar who moved to Suzhou at the lowest point of his life, and a chance meeting with the female poet who would become his wife. This was the intimate villa where the lovely couple spent 8 blissful years of their lives together, before the talented scholar was called again into Imperial service and his frail wife eventually died of weariness. The pavilion where the elegant lady entertained her husband with her Guqin zither still stands, as do the carved plaques of poetic calligraphy written together by the couple.



But what separated this garden from the rest was its incredible serenity from the absence of visitors -- we saw less than 5 during our afternoon visit, none of them foreign aside from us. Compare this with the armies of thousands at the Humble Administrator’s Garden, and you’ll see why this was easily our favorite spot in Suzhou. Even though it may be slightly off the main tourist route, I highly recommend this place for anyone who wants to experience a more peaceful Suzhou garden, with or without a lover.



We continued our stroll up the 800-year-old cobblestone path of Pingjiang Road, flanked by the picturesque canal and quaint Bohemian shops selling anything from humorous matchboxes to the most extravagant in teaware. Squeezed between the posh design hotels and riverside teahouses were authentic side alleys still inhabited by the friendly locals, often seen whistling by on their electric scooters and disappearing back into their own quarters.



At the northern end of Pingjiang Road sat the most famous of Suzhou’s classical garden villas -- the enormous and extremely popular Humble Administrator’s Garden. Even on a gloomy, rain-drenched weekday afternoon in the offseason, it was still difficult to get a moment of solitude away from the megaphone speakers of the domestic tour guides.



This of course doesn’t detract from the magnificence of the garden -- IMHO it is among the best along with Beijing’s Summer Palace -- though you simply can’t expect the same tranquility found at the Couple’s Retreat Garden.



Even more congested was a small villa just to the south, also ranked among the so-called Four Famous Gardens of Suzhou. In fact its unique model of garden design was so highly regarded in China that the Qing Dynasty emperors ordered two copies to grace their own Imperial palaces, one in Beijing and another in Chengde. This is the legendary Lions’s Grove, the grandest rock garden ever built.



Unlike Japanese rock gardens designed mainly for visual enjoyment from a distance, the Chinese variety is much more hands-on in the sense that you’re expected to climb, with hands and hiking poles if you wish, these artificial mountains and explore all of their intriguing grottoes and mysterious tunnels. And here was the absolute pinnacle in the ancient art of building artificial mountains, a whopping 1500 square metres of these outlandish rock mazes.



To give a slight idea of how much fun this was, I actually got lost inside one of these labyrinths looking for an exit route, not realizing that there were nine crisscrossing footpaths meticulously engineered into the seemingly haphazard pile of rocks! This is one place I would like to revisit in the future, in better weather and with more time to fully explore every nook of its collection of fascinating mazes.



We spent most of the next day on a self-guided culinary tour to the crab-farming villages on Yangcheng Lake, but we did return in time for an afternoon stroll within the postcard-perfect scenery of the refurbished, somewhat cheesy side of Shantang Street. To the east of the perfect stone arch of Tonggui Bridge was the cobblestone street infamously known as a tourist trap full of souvenir stores and silk retailers, always packed with busloads of multi-national tourists.



Except most casual tourists tragically miss the authentic side of Shantang Street, located just one block over to the west of Tonggui Bridge. When the government originally redeveloped the eastern side of the bridge as an admission-charging theme park (which soon became free due to a lack of patrons), the west side remained untouched as one of the last waterfront neighborhoods in 21st Century Suzhou.



There are no overpriced teahouses or tacky museums to lure in unsuspecting tourists, only a genuinely local wet market supplying all of life’s necessities from live grass carps thrashing on the pavement to every unimaginable hand-crafted bamboo utensil. While the chaotic swarms of grocery-shopping housewives and swerving scooters serve to bewilder and turn back most foreigners, a serene and charming side awaits another few minutes’ walk away, beyond yet another Qing Dynasty arched bridge.



This is the authentic side of Suzhou that I feared was gone forever, an ancient neighborhood of peasant residences built around this 1200-year-old canal, one of the few remaining from the dozens that used to interweave throughout the city and function as the main thoroughfares, much like the canals of Venice. It's now difficult to look at these dilapidated houses and visually imagine this exact section of the canal as the inspiration for the replica of Suzhou inside Beijing’s Summer Palace.



Unlike Pingjiang Road where the prime real estate was mostly snatched up by upscale restaurants and shops, here it's the neighborhood barber, furniture carpenters or simply residential homes, likely continuously occupied by the original families for countless generations. If you absolutely don't have time to travel to Tongli or Xitang but want a taste of an ancient waterfront town, this kilometer-long stretch of Shantang Street's canal between Tonggui Bridge and Tiger Hill would be an excellent alternative.



At the end I was satisfied with finding our own favorite corners of Old Suzhou, though they're rapidly being reduced to small pockets of authenticity among ever-present tourist traps in this sprawling metropolis of ugly apartments and hi-tech factories. And who knows what Shantang Street may look like in another 10 years?

Suzhou - Restaurant and Hotel Reviews

The food, above the gardens, was actually my favorite memory of Suzhou.

IMHO visitors place too much attention on her immaculate, World-Heritage-worthy classical gardens, and end up missing the taste of an ancient culinary tradition, 2500 years in the making and highly esteemed among Chinese cuisine. Chinese gourmands may associate Suzhou with the nationally famous Hairy Crabs of Yangcheng Lake (see our upcoming article on Crab Caviar tasting at a crab farm). But even within central Suzhou you'll find a multitude of excellent restaurants ranging from RMB 20 to 250 (CAD$3 to $40) per head. Again we consulted the locals, and were directed to three authentic and highly reputed restaurants in town.

Food Review: WUMEN RENJIA, Main Branch (Suzhou)
Address: Panru Alley 31, Pingjiang District, Suzhou
Hours: 06:30-13:30, 17:00-20:30
Website/Map: Map from Google
Directions:Start from the front entrance of Lion Grove Garden. Walk north along Yuanlin Road and turn left onto the first alley (Panru Alley). Wumen Renjia is immediately on the right, behind an intimidating rack of medieval wooden fences.


This is currently reputed to be the best restaurant in Suzhou, overtaking the historic Songhelou according to many local gourmands. Architecture fans also know this place as the childhood home of the great I.M. Pei. Housed inside a magnificent Qing Dynasty mansion just steps from the gorgeous Lion Grove Garden, Wumen Renjia is so well-camouflaged inside an old-fashioned neighborhood that we would have never found this place on our own without directions from the locals.

This is a restaurant best known for its strict adherence to 100-year-old recipes in the grand culinary tradition of Suzhou, and patrons are seated in an airy dining hall of giant wooden pillars and antique carved beams. Once again we employed our usual strategy -- focus only on the most traditional, time-honoured local dishes that earned the restaurant its fame. As a result all of the dishes reviewed below are arguably among Suzhou’s most famous dishes, starting with the Stir-Fried Shrimp in Clear Sauce (Qingchao Xiaren).



In one of the simplest and most representative of Suzhou dishes, this heap of sweet freshwater shrimp were individually shelled by hand, coated in a creamy mixture of starch and egg white, stir-fried in oil and finally served with a side dish of aged rice vinegar. This was actually very similar to the Longjing Shrimp we had a few days ago at Hangzhou’s Xihu State Guesthouse, but posessing a slightly rougher texture and an oilier mouthfeel balanced perfectly by the acidity of the dipping vinegar. As a metaphor I thought of the Longjing Shrimp as more of a delicate feminine dish, contrasted against this bolder, masculine version. It’s no wonder that my wife let me finish most of this dish, as I was the one who thoroughly enjoyed it.



Even better was this incredible dish of Braised Eels in Sizzling Oil (Xiangyou Shanhu). As a foodie I’m crazy about the taste of Unagi, or freshwater eel ... crazy enough to travel to specialty restaurants in Tokyo, to Osaka and to Nagoya for the different regional styles. And this time in Eastern China one of my most anticipated dishes was the local specialty of Shanhu, made from the small yellow eels indigenous to the area. This is perennially my favorite dish in Shanghainese restaurants in Hong Kong and elsewhere, and I was anxious to taste the real thing at what’s reputed to be one of Eastern China’s top restaurants.

And it did not disappoint -- this was easily among the best freshwater eels I’ve ever had, in any nationality or genre of preparation. The characteristic fattiness of the eels was already perfectly complimented by the savory glaze of soy, yellow wine and a dollop of white peppercorn, before our server came with a large spoonful of sizzling garlic-scallion mixture to generously slaver on top of the eels in front of our eyes. Immediately the dining hall was filled with an aroma so magical that all neighboring tables glanced our way at this spectacular dish, the oil still bubbling and the eels still searing on the scorchingly hot ceramic plate. This one dish alone would be enough to make Suzhou worthwhile for me. It’s that good.



After two oilier dishes it was time for a traditional palate cleanser, arriving in the form of this Water-Shield and Three Shredded Delicacies in Broth (Sansi Chuncai Tang). A small, lotus-like aquatic plant often found floating in local ponds, the water-shield is treasured as a delicacy here in old-fashioned Suzhou as opposed to being a feared invasive species in the United States. Perhaps this is the solution -- if only someone could fabricate a TV health fad to convince the American public to love the slimy, slip-down-your-throat texture of these tender green leaves.



Arriving next was another dish synonymous with Suzhou cuisine, the Deep-Fried Yellow Croaker in Squirrel Form (Songshu Huangyu). I was actually a little disappointed when the plate arrived, as our fish was somewhat skewed to one side and the incisions made on the sides of the fish weren’t good enough to produce the desired “squirrelly” appearance after the battering and deep-frying. But perhaps I was being hypercritical, as the batter was still perfectly crispy and the vinegar counterbalanced any residual oiliness in the meat very well. My wife thought highly of this dish, and as long as the slightly botched visual presentation was overlooked, I had to agree that the flavor was indeed outstanding.



The absolutely most amazing dish of the night was this tiny 4cm x 4cm square of pork, a personalized appetizer portion that commanded the same price (RMB 42) as our lunch for two earlier that day. But it was worth it -- this was the 120-year-old recipe of Empress Cixi’s Cherry Pork (Cixi Yingtao Rou), the best pork I’ve ever tasted so far in my life.

This was as perfect and as meticulous as a cheap piece of pork could be prepared: start with a perfectly square piece of 5-layered pork belly and make precise checkerboard incisions on the skin side, with each cut terminating at the perfect depth right where the top fatty layer meets the first lean layer of meat. Marinate with the regional specialty of red fermented rice paste, yellow wine from the glutinous rice of Shaoxing, rock sugar, aged vinegar and whatever secret ingredient passed down from the imperial chefs of the Qing Dynasty court, then finally simmer for a whole day from morning to dinner time until all the excess fat has been drained from the meat.

The result was a delicate, melt-in-your-mouth combination of the sweet and chewy skin, two thin layers of reduced fat, and two layers of slow-cooked lean meat that would all disintegrate in the mouth under the softest bite. One might think of this as more of a male carnivore’s favorite, but it was surprisingly light considering its origin as a solid chunk of fatty pork. Even my wife agreed that this was the most memorable dish of our time in Suzhou.



By this time we had already ordered way too much food, and we made the mistake of ordering yet one more of Suzhou’s best-known dishes. It was crab caviar season and the restaurant was selling Hairy Crabs from the nearby Tai Lake for RMB 158 a pair. As we planned on traveling to Yangcheng Lake for the famous Big Sluice Crabs (Dazhaxie) the next day, we decided to order the Tai Lake variety here as a legitimate comparison.

The crabs turned out to be somewhat average -- neither the female nor the male crab produced a large amount of yellow caviar, though the amount of white caviar in the male crab saved the day. I still thought they weren’t worth their price tag however, as I’ve had better Hairy Crabs for far cheaper prices in other Chinese cities, and not necessarily in Eastern China. Just the luck of the draw I guess.



A memorable episode began when we asked for scissors to clip off the legs, which I thought was the typical way to start shelling Hairy Crabs in most Chinese cities. Our waitress laughed, and to our surprise brought out the owner’s wife to personally teach these unrefined barbarians how to properly eat Hairy Crabs at the birthplace of Hairy Crabs! Here we re-learned the process of twisting and separating each segment of the leg, and inserting the smaller segments into the shells of the larger segments to push out the meat. Pictured is my wife’s attempt to reassemble part of the crab after she had finished all the caviar and meat inside. As for me, I think I proved once again that my lack of manual dexterity was beyond help.

This wasn’t a cheap meal -- in fact it was the second priciest of our 17-day trip, owing largely to the Hairy Crabs before which we should have stopped. We’ve got no regrets though, as the both the Braised Eels and the Cherry Pork were among our most memorable dishes, extraordinary enough to be reasons for another trip to Suzhou. The quality of food was amazing -- as long as you stick to their best dishes -- and I have no hesitation recommending this restaurant to anyone interested in the flavors of Old Suzhou.

Bill for Two Persons

Stir-Fried Shrimps in Clear Sauce	RMB 58
Braised Eels in Sizzling Oil	RMB 68
Water-Shield and Three Shredded Delicacies in Broth	RMB 28
Deep-Fried Yellow Croaker in Squirrel Form	RMB 138
Empress Cixi's Cherry Pork (Small)	RMB 42
Steamed Big Sluice Crab (One Pair of Male/Female)	RMB 158
Draft Beer	RMB 12
Rice	FREE
TOTAL	RMB 502 (CAD$79.7)

Suzhou isn’t just about expensive, RMB 500 meals of imperial court-influenced dishes. Equally renowned is the 1000-year-old peasant favorite of Lamian (later transliterated to Ramen by the Japanese) noodles typically sold in neighborhood noodle house for RMB 10 to 15 a bowl. Again we followed recommendations from the locals and visited two of the best-known noodles houses in town.

Food Review: TONGDEXING (Suzhou)
Address: Jiayufang 6, Pingjiang District, Suzhou
Hours: 06:00-13:00
Website/Map: Map from Google
Directions: Start from the front entrance of Yiyuan Garden (just north of Leqiao Metro Station), walk north along Renmin Road then turn left at the first street (Jiayufang). Tongdexing is about 50m down the street on the left side.


If having a knock-off clone is the ultimate sign of commercial success in 21st Century capitalist China, this unpretentious noodle house must be among the best in the country.

Started out as a neighborhood joint in Suzhou barely 20 years ago, Tongdexing has famously attracted imitators as far as Shanghai, bold enough to also call themselves Tongdexing with a slightly different character of “De” in the name. I can’t quite remember the end result of the ensued lawsuit, but I did make a mental note that I must visit this place sometime.



As we arrived in Suzhou in late 2012, Tongdexing had already expanded into a small franchise across the lower Yangtze Delta, with its main branch still centrally located just north of the popular Yiyuan Garden. No colorful advertisements were in sight, and instead a traditional red sheet with badly hand-written calligraphy was used to indicate the seasonal specialties available at this time. No English menus here ... just point at whatever the locals are having. If you want an authentic breakfast/lunch experience in Suzhou, this is probably as close as it gets.



Ordering food was the easy part -- the tough part was lining up for 10 minutes at the window and continuously tempted by the incredibly deep aroma emanating from the giant vats of soup stock. While Tongdexing is well-known for two distinct soup stocks unimaginatively named Red Broth and White Broth, only Red Broth remained when we arrived at 11:00 in the morning. It’s better to be here early, as the soup stock sells out quickly and the place typically closes by 13:00. It’s that popular.



Here it is, our Noodles in Red Broth with Simmered Pork (Hongtang Menroumian) with a side order of Deep-Fried Fish in Dark Oil (Aoyou Baoyu). These remarkably thin noodles were clearly designed to soak up the flavorsome broth made from eel bones and pork bones, and had an extremely chewy al dente texture achieved through a quick drench in cold water. The famed Simmered Pork was lightly marinated and tenderly slow-cooked, but even better was the syrupy goodness of the fish fillet, which came without any hint of a "muddy" flavor even though it must have been a freshwater fish at this price.



Equally delicious were these Deep-Fried Eels in Sesame Oil (Maxiang Baoshan), in a sweet, almost candied form carefully set aside from the noodles to prevent from over-soaking. The only unremarkable dish was the Duck Foie Gras, which made me even more curious about their other regional offerings such as the appetizingly sounding Smoked Duck.

But most amazing was the bargain basement price. A simple lunch of Noodles with Deep-Fried Fish would set you back a measly RMB 10 (CAD$1.6), and even our premium two-topping noodles averaged only RMB 21 per person. And remember that we’re right at the expensive city centre of Suzhou -- try finding lunch for RMB 21 at Shanghai’s East Nanjing Road!

Bill for Two Persons

Noodles in Red Broth with Simmered Pork	RMB 9
Deep-Fried Fish in Dark Oil	RMB 11
Noodles with Deep-Fried Eels in Sesame Oil	RMB 15
Duck Foie Gras	RMB 7
TOTAL	RMB 42 (CAD$6.7)

The next night we came back from Yangcheng Lake loaded with too much cholesterol from all the Crab Caviar we had for lunch. For a light dinner we visited yet another popular Suzhou noodle house, this one conveniently located next to the tourist district of Shantang Street.

Food Review: DONGWU MIANGUAN (Suzhou)
Address: Shantang Street 18, Jinchang District, Suzhou
Hours: 11:00-21:00 (unofficial; based on observation)
Website/Map: Map from Google
Directions: Start from the eastern entrance of Shantang Street (look for the traditional pavilion with a stone stele inside). Walk south and cross the bridge, then walk another 30m down the street. Dongwu Mianguan is on the right hand side.


This is noodle-crazy Suzhou’s answer to the fast-food franchise, an ever-present chain of peasant eateries you’d find in most city neighborhoods. We passed by at least three branches of Dongwu Mianguan during our short time here, and decided to visit one and compare its food against our excellent lunch at Tongdexing. Those might be large shoes to fill, but if they’re good enough to sustain 30 stores across this medium sized city, they must be doing some things right.



And here’s what they’re doing right -- good quality noodles at affordable prices. Once again we splurged on the premium two-topping noodles, in this case a bowl of Noodles with Deep-Fried Fish and Stir-Fried Shrimp. The noodles were surprisingly similar to those at Tongdexing: extremely thin, disproportionately chewy with a maximized surface area to saturate itself with the soup. While the soup was nowhere as deep and complex in flavor as Tongdexing’s Red Broth, the toppings were larger in portion and the overall quality was quite decent.



We originally wanted a dish of Braised Eels, but they ran out of fresh eels and we settled for the ubiquitous deep-fried variety. Again the difference in quality wasn’t huge compared to the same dishes at the outstanding Tongdexing, which was only open for breakfast and lunch. If you’re looking for a cheap place for an authentically Suzhou dinner at a convenient location, this is a pretty good option.

Bill for Two Persons

Noodles with Deep-Fried Fish Fillet and Stir-Fried Shrimp	RMB 23
Noodles with Deep-Fried Eels and Simmered Pork	RMB 22
TOTAL	RMB 45 (CAD$7.1)

What you want even cheaper eats?? No worries. Just north of Dongwu Mianguan, the pedestrian zone of Shantang Street is a great place to try out Suzhou’s cheap street snacks in a gentrified and relatively hygienic environment.


My favorite was a little Stinky Tofu shop located in the middle section of the pedestrian street. I don’t have a picture of the storefront, though it should be easy enough to simply follow the crowd of locals swarming around the counter.



Note the English, Japanese and Chinese labels at the dipping sauce station, and you know how incredibly popular this place is. Simply line-up outside the store, indicate (English is okay; hand signals if necessary) the number of orders when asked, and pay the RMB 5 per order when your line gets to the cashier.



This is what the multi-national clientele all wait in line for -- authentic Stinky Tofu, with the complex, slightly pungent flavor that has become increasingly rare in Hong Kong or even urban Shanghai due to the unpopularity of the highly odorous fermentation process. Even here the stink had been somewhat toned down, but the tofu was silken soft and the flavor was quite enjoyable.



We wrapped up the evening with dessert at a nearby shop specializing in the timeless local favorite of sweet soups. This is an example of why one must specifically ask for prices every time, as the posted price of RMB 6 only applied to the ubiquitous Red Beans and Glutinous Rice Balls flavor. Our order with the addition of the local delicacy of Fox Nuts ran a whopping RMB 18, enough for a cheap lunch in this city. Good thing my wife loved the chewiness of the glutinous rice balls and the fleshy fox nuts.

Snacks for Two Persons

Stinky Tofu	RMB 5
Sweet Soup with Red Beans and Fox Nuts	RMB 18
TOTAL	RMB 23 (CAD$3.7)

With much of our budget being spent on food, it’s natural that we wanted our hotel to be inexpensive and centrally located to minimize transportation hassles. And we found one at a very reasonable price, in one of the most picturesque areas of town.

Hotel Review: ROYAL GARDEN INN (Suzhou)
Address: Tongguiqiao Xiatang 33, Shantang Street, Suzhou
Price: RMB 200
Website: Official Site
How To Book: Skip the official site and book thru CTrip.com
Directions: From the Suzhou Train Station, take a short taxi (or Bus #50) to Shantang Street on Guangji Road. Get off at the crowded Tonggui Bridge, where the hotel is just 50m ahead.


If you’re on a mid-range budget like we were and want good value for your money in Suzhou, this largely overlooked hotel was the best of what I found as of late 2012. The above picture was actually taken on top of the Qing Dynasty stone arch of Tonggui Bridge looking down the 1200-year-old canal alongside Shantang Street, and on the right bank of the waterway was the neon sign of Royal Garden Inn. You simply can’t ask for a much better location than this.



Location was of course the trump card of this hotel, as you’re just steps from all the souvenir shopping, cheap street snacks and noodle houses of one of Suzhou’s most popular pedestrian districts. For the more adventurous, a 5-minute walk to the west would take you inside one of the last authentic waterfront neighborhoods, located on the western section of the Shantang Street (see next article). And on top of that, Suzhou Train Station and Long Distance Bus Station are just one short bus ride (Bus #50) to the north.

Our room was westernized, clean but had a medieval pillar smack dab in the middle of the room ... which was likely the reason for the discounted room price of RMB 200 (compared to the regular price of RMB 320). I personally didn’t care as long as it didn’t block my view of the TV, and it also shed light on the fascinating history of these rowhouses along the ancient canal. Beneath the brand new wallpapers was likely the empty shell of a grand mansion from another age.



Our only complaint was of the poor drainage in the shower stall, a frequently encountered problem in the mid range hotels of China. So there are caveats and catches, but they’re relatively minor nuisances if you’re the type of traveler who spend most of your time away from the hotel. And why would you waste your time in the room, when there’s a traditional Opera House located practically next door and two kilometers of Suzhou’s best canal neighborhoods to explore around the corner?