The thought of advanced vending machines and Japan pops into mind. Who would have thought that China has also started with some “eccentric” vending machines of their own.
Just in season, an entrepreneur has imported a vending machine from Japan and stocked it full of “hairy crabs”. Chinese, especially from the Southern region, love to eat hairy crabs at this time of the year.
The crabs are kept at 5° Celsius, where they hibernate until sold. The price ranges from CNY 10 to 50 (between $1.40 and $7.30) which is apparently a thirty percent markdown from retail.
The local sentiment has gone from suspicion to welcome; the amount sold has gone from one a day to around two hundred.
You can find the machine In Nanjing at Xinjiekou station on Metro Line 1, near where you come out at Dayuanpan.
The owner of the machine offers a pretty sweet guarantee: if your crab is dispensed in a “dead” condition, you get three as compensation.
Even the Japanese media seem to find this one peculiar. See it for yourself in the video:
