Photo shows crab farmers displaying their newly harvested crabs, taken on Sept. 21, 2018 in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province.(Photo: Xinhua)

 
This year's harvest season for China's highly sought-after freshwater crabs began on Wednesday in the Yangcheng Lake in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province.

A total of 10,940 tonnes of the tasty and pricey mitten crabs are expected to be harvested and hit the market starting around the National Day Holiday in early October.

The crabs will be collected from a breeding area that covers around 5,900 hectares, according to the municipal agriculture and rural affairs bureau.

The number of bigger crabs is also expected to increase from last year due to better climate conditions, the department noted.

Chinese people have a custom of eating crabs in autumn when the meat is at its best. The tradition can be traced back to the Han Dynasty (202 BC to 220).

The crab is considered auspicious as the Chinese word for crab is "xie," which is pronounced the same as the Chinese word for "thanks."