Liu Yuanju and his wife closed their small rural restaurant in 2004 and started to raise crabs in a small pond in their backyard. Almost 10 years later, their business, in Dongying in East China's Shandong province, has expanded into a crab farm that can bring in 2.5 million yuan ($408,500) a year.

The hairy crabs the couple is raising are named after their furry claws, and they are among the Chinese people's favorite dishes. Usually available in the market in autumn, these crabs have reached prices of more than 100 yuan each.

With an annual output of about 5,000 kilograms, the crab farm of 6.7 hectares brings Liu more than twice the income he earned from the restaurant.