In the age of social media, the Chinese hairy crab has transitioned from the dinner plate to the digital screen. Short-form video platforms like Douyin (the Chinese counterpart to TikTok) and Xiaohongshu are flooded with content dedicated to this crustacean. This "hairy crab entertainment" generally falls into three viral categories:

Some examples of how this topic might be explored in a neutral and informative manner include:

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A popular sub-genre of lifestyle videos features experts—or "crab artists"—who can deconstruct an entire crab using traditional "eight pieces" tools (bashenqi), only to reassemble the empty shell back into the shape of a whole crab.

Instead of fancy travel, creators are finding immense success vlogging cooking at home, caring for pets, rural lifestyle, or even the tedious parts of their jobs.