1,000 fishing boats, 500 seafood dishes

Fishing boats sail from Shipu port to the East China Sea at the end of three-a-half-month fishing ban.[Photo by Yang Zhonghua/China Daily]

Waitresses at restaurants in Xiangshan preparing crabs for sale.[Photo by Yang Zhonghua/China Daily]

Port of Shipu has 600-year tradition of harvesting East China Sea.

After a three-and-a-half-month moratorium on fishing, more than 1,000 fishing boats sailed from the port of Shipu in Xiangshan county, Zhejiang province on Sept 16 at the start of a new fishing season.

For locals in Xiangshan, it was a big day worthy of celebration and thousands of people gathered at the port to see the fishing boats leave. In the evening, the county held a large meal for local residents and tourists to enjoy the first catch of the new fishing season.

Since 1998, the county has held fishery festivals every year in mid-September to celebrate the end of the fishing moratorium during which fish and crabs in the East China Sea grow into big and delicious seafood for which the area is famous.

In Xiangshan, fish dishes feature prominently for every family. Seafood is cooked in a traditional manner - steaming for fish and boiling for shellfish.

Li Weishan, chairman of Xiangshan Fishery Culture Association, said the most significant feature of Xiangshan seafood dishes is retaining the original flavor as much as possible.

"The best taste of food is its original taste. As the seafood in Xiangshan is fresh, it is better to present it in original ways," he said.

Li said that every morning and evening, people gather at the port to wait for the returning fishing boats.

"Some fish on restaurant tables are just out of the sea," he said.

Shipu port has a 600-year history during which it has been one of the most important fishery centers in China. In the Yangtze River Delta area, Shipu is considered the "Kingdom of Seafood" and is renowned for more than 500 types of seafood, including hairtail, eel, cuttlefish, crab and shellfish.

Arriving at Shipu, it is easy to findrestaurants providing a variety of fresh seafood. A street of seafood restaurants is located just behind the fishing port.

The fish are displayed in glass tanks in front of each restaurant, which have no set menus. Diners simply point at the kind of fish they want to eat and the chefs will cook the fish in the best way to preserve its flavor.

The cost is less than 100 yuan ($16) for each person, so tourists can enjoy a big seafood meal in these restaurants.

For those who would like to catch their own dinner, Shipu provides fishing boats for tourists to try their hand. The port has 15 such vessels to give tourists the experience of being a fisherman.

Lin Yongkui, chairman of Xiangshan Yongshun Marine Tourism Development Co, said the activity is highly popular and tourists have to book at least one week in advance.

Each boat is equipped with a captain and a coach. The captain ensures the fishing boat's safety and the coach teaches tourists how to catch fish, which can later be cooked and eaten.

For many frequent visitors to Xiangshan, seafood is not the only attraction. Many people seek its tranquility.

Shanghai resident Xi Hongyi said that he makes the three-hour drive to escape Shanghai's hustle and bustle, as well as to enjoy the delicious seafood.

"Unlike the seafood street restaurants in Shanghai which are always filled with people, sitting in the yard of a fisherman's family, feeling the breeze from the sea and eating fresh seafood are what I call seizing the day," he said.

After visiting Xiangshan more than five times, Xi no longer seeks seafood dishes at expensive restaurants but prefers to go to the seafood market and buy directly from fishermen and then hire owners of guesthouses to cook it.

"For newcomers to Xiangshan, big restaurants definitely must be the first choice. For frequent visitors like me, purchasing directly at Shipu port is more interesting and economic," he said.

Xi also likes to look for secret food stalls hidden in the old town of Shipu, where many of the buildings are hundreds of years old and convey the atmosphere of ancient China.

Delicious food is often to be found behind the wooden doors of the houses.

Xi said that an 80-year-old woman opens her small breakfast stall in the old town every morning. She offers simple seafood noodles, where noodles boiled with chicken soup and cabbage are put in a porcelain bowl, which is then filled with shrimp, shellfish, cuttlefish rings and other seafood.

"Add some drops of local vinegar into the soup, and the whole day will be lightened up by the noodle," Xi said.

Such seafood noodles are not hard to find in Xiangshan. The seafood added to the noodles may differ from place to place but the sweet fresh flavor of the noodles is the same.

At night, younger visitors gravitate to the China Fishery Village beach, where people gather around bonfires, listen to the sound of the sea and enjoy a delicious barbecue. The night air is often filled with singing, laughter and the sounds of people having a good time.