Condensing the family's painstaking efforts, Taiwan's "crab prince" dream of going to the mainland has come true

Taiwanese young Man Liu Zhenghong opened the "World Crab House" on Meizhou Island in Putian, Fujian Province. The picture shows tourists visiting the museum. The image comes from the Ta Kung Pao

The 1,500-square-meter collection simulates the land and marine environment, such as the "human-faced crab" that looks like a human face, the tide-catching crab that "dances", and the cotton crab with a "sponge" on the back... More than 300 species and thousands of crustacean specimens "inhabit" among them. This is the crab museum with the highest display integrity of crustacean organisms in Fujian.

The "owner" is Liu Zhenghong, a young Taiwanese man known as the "Crab Prince". Different from Taiwan compatriots engaged in food, catering, manufacturing, clothing and other industries on the mainland, Liu Zhenghong chose a more "unpopular" industry - opening a museum, integrating science, cultural creativity and tourism, and realizing his long-standing dream.

Liu Zhenghong, a "post-90s" from Penghu County, Taiwan, is currently the head of the "Magical Armor Warrior - World Crab House" on Meizhou Island in Putian, Fujian Province. Liu Zhenghong said that more than 90% of the crabs in the thousands of exhibits in the museum are quite rare species, of which dozens are endangered species.

40 years of hard work for the whole family

Liu Zhenghong said that Taiwan's distant-water fishing industry is dominated by Penghu people, who find strange and rare crustaceans such as crabs and lobsters in their catches, and will sell these species at high prices. In Penghu, Liu Zhenghong's grandparents spent nearly 40 years fishing, collecting and making more than 1,000 crustacean biological specimens. Grandpa and Grandma's generation simply dried the crabs collected, father and uncle's generation specifically learned the technology of making specimens, and in his generation, he traveled to Southeast Asia, Australia, the United States and other parts of the world to buy all kinds of precious and interesting crabs from local fishermen and learn to process them into specimens. These specimens "settled" on Meizhou Island in Fujian Province, condensing the painstaking efforts of Liu Zhenghong's family for nearly 40 years, and also reflecting the marine strangeness between the two sides of the strait.

Developing a hobby into a career is Liu Zhenghong's dream all along. This year, he chose to start a business on Meizhou Island, which is the result of careful consideration. "Meizhou is very similar to Penghu, both are islands surrounded by the sea, and it is most appropriate to develop marine ecological culture." Penghu has the Tianhou Temple, the earliest divided spirit in Taiwan, and I am also a devout believer in Mazu. Liu Zhenghong returned to Penghu after graduating from Taiwan National Chengchi University in 2016 and accumulated a lot of experience in island cultural and creative tourism. In his view, Meizhou Island can carry out mazu belief and customs practice activities, bicycle stations throughout the island are connected in series to facilitate tour around the island, and drones control sea fireworks displays. For this series of activities, Penghu's cultural and creative tourism experience can be used as a reference.

Preferential policies help to start a business

The Taiwan market has limitations, and even if there is talent, there is no place for it, but as long as it is willing to work the mainland, there will be good development. After coming to Meizhou Island, Liu Zhenghong found that in addition to Meizhou Island's unique geographical advantages and cultural and creative market, a series of Huitai measures that have been implemented have enabled him to do a good job in cross-strait cultural creation more steadily and with peace of mind. "Whether it is employment and entrepreneurship subsidies, or rent reductions, etc., it can make our crab house land here more smoothly." Liu Zhenghong said.

According to Liu Zhenghong, in the early stage of the crab house, in the form of "ornamentation + science popularization", the concept of tourism and vacation on Meizhou Island was integrated, so that more people could understand the diversity of marine life, improve the awareness of marine ecological environmental protection, and create a good habitat for marine life. Talking about the future development, Liu Zhenghong revealed that he will continue to deepen science education, and plans to use the Crab Pavilion as a marine science popularization experience practice base for mainland young students to promote it to the outside world and strengthen cross-strait marine academic exchanges and cooperation.

Introduce Taiwanese cultural and creative talents

"Now that there are artworks made of shells in the museum, visitors can become creators on the spot and create new artworks to turn shells into new works of art." Liu Zhenghong said that he intends to unite with young cultural and creative talents in Taiwan to focus on developing cultural and creative products with the theme of marine culture. He believes that Taiwan has "temperature" and the mainland has speed; Taiwan has depth, the mainland has breadth, cross-strait cultural and creative can pursue speed and "temperature" in "harmony but difference", and I believe that in the future, more young people will jointly promote the progress of cross-strait cultural and creative undertakings.

Fujian and Taiwan are geographically close, blood relatives, extremely thick commercial relations, and extremely deep cultural relations. General Secretary Xi Jinping once proposed to explore a new road for the integration and development of the two sides of the strait and strive to build Fujian into the first home for Taiwan compatriots and Taiwan enterprises to land. Liu Zhenghong said: Under the circumstance that the mainland is becoming more and more open and more attractive, the Taiwan authorities cannot stop the general trend of Taiwan talent flowing and developing to the mainland. As one of the many Taiwanese youths who have landed in Fujian for development, he is willing to be a practitioner and promoter, through the success of the crab house project, to encourage more young people in Taiwan to come to the mainland more, as long as they insist on doing it, they will achieve their wishes.