XINING, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Northwest China's Qinghai Province, a landlocked plateau region with an average altitude over 3,000 meters, has recently seen seafood become a new favorite among residents.
Located on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Qinghai is around 1,800 km away from the sea. The locals are used to eating beef and lamb, but seafood has now excited their taste buds.
In the provincial capital city of Xining, seafood markets are crowded with sellers and buyers. Newly opened Sijixian Seafood Market sells various kinds of fresh, frozen and dried seafood, including hairtail from coastal Zhejiang Province, lobsters, yellow croakers, king crabs and salmon from Norway.
Covering more than 20,000 square meters, The market has 230 stalls.
"I can buy as many different kinds of seafood as possible here. Apart from seafood, there is also beef, lamb and fresh vegetables," said Xian Xiangyi, a local resident.
Huang Chunming runs a stall in the market. Her seafood has sold very well during this winter. "My seafood comes by air from Qingdao, Dalian, Xiamen, Guangzhou and other coastal cities. It usually arrives at the market on the same day."
Huang said freshness is the secret of her successful business. She also sells Norwegian salmon, which are popular with customers. "I can sell about 50 kg of salmon per day, and the sales usually spike during holidays."
"When I first started to sell seafood, very few locals ate it. But in recent years, since people's living standards have improved, more people want a taste," said Guo Na, who has engaged in the seafood trade in Xining for about 20 years.
The improved refrigeration technology and logistics services bring more and fresher seafood to plateau residents, Guo said.
For those who don't know how to cook seafood, emerging seafood restaurants are a good choice. During holidays, such restaurants are quite popular.
Poached shrimps, grilled lobsters, salmon sashimi... Li Juan has no trouble memorizing the menu of a seafood restaurant in downtown Xining. For the last three years, the restaurant has been booked out on New Year's Eve and Li always makes a reservation.
Han Xia, manager of the restaurant, said they receive around 200 guests every night. "Eating seafood has gradually become popular since 2015. Five large seafood restaurants have recently been opened in the city."
