Shajing Oysters

Shajing oysters are oysters raised in the waters around Shajing in Bao'an district. Large and fine-textured with a high protein content, they have long been called the milk of the sea and are Shenzhen's most emblematic local seafood.

Helped by the mix of fresh and salt water at the mouth of the Pearl River, people around Shajing began staking out oyster beds as far back as the Song dynasty, giving the trade roughly a thousand years of history; the local oyster-farming customs are listed as area intangible heritage.

The oysters are prepared many ways, steamed, deep-fried, stir-fried, scrambled with egg or in soup. The most distinctively local treatment is the oyster pancake, fried golden, which often appears on family tables at festival time.

What sets it apart is the plump, sweet flesh and the deep-rooted oyster culture of Shajing itself, making it a seafood that stands for Shenzhen's old fishing-and-salt traditions.