Venturing into the steaming shrimp nursery at Xinning Town, Dazhou City's Kaijiang County on August 30, farm manager Sun Xiaoling carefully checked water oxygen levels and temperature, with "National Day market launch" on her mind. Inside the ponds, aeration equipment churned the water, sending thousands of finger-length whiteleg shrimp darting around in schools. In their rapid growth phase, these shrimp will exceed 15 centimeters by harvest time, with roughly 22 individuals making up one jin.

Native to the Pacific coast of Central and South America, the whiteleg shrimp is a tropical species that has now found a stable home in Kaijiang County's land-based farming operations. Sun, who previously gained experience in the Yangtze River Delta region, returned to her hometown to farm shrimp three years ago, becoming one of the earliest whiteleg shrimp farmers in the province. "There were technical hurdles, but we've now mastered them completely," she said, pointing to the ring-shaped oxygenation and aeration pipelines installed on the floor of an empty pond. "These are all hand-crafted, built on years of accumulated experience."

Creating a marine environment on land is the first critical challenge. Sun explained that the farm uses mountain spring water maintained as a weakly alkaline environment, supplemented with mineral trace elements to mimic seawater ecology. Temperature control is equally vital—through years of experimentation, she determined that whiteleg shrimp thrive at 28 to 30 degrees Celsius, with stress responses or even mortality occurring below 25 or above 32 degrees. Despite the blazing sun outside, Sun spent less than five minutes in the nursery before sweat beaded across her face. "This is exactly the temperature shrimp love," she laughed.

The farm needs underfloor heating for seven months each year to warm the pond water, making energy a significant cost. Oxygen supply, aeration, and temperature control all depend on electricity—standby oxygen tanks sit outside the nursery as a safeguard against unexpected power outages. Daily management is just as meticulous as the water environment requirements. In the juvenile shrimp facility, workers carefully weigh feed on scales, adjusting amounts to the gram with a 10% daily increase during this growth stage. The feed goes into cone-shaped hoppers above the ponds, dispensed automatically around the clock by intelligent pneumatic feeders—eliminating nighttime manual feeding while ensuring all 50,000 shrimp in each pond eat evenly. An insulated container on the feeding station holds mineral supplements and vitamin blends to boost shrimp immunity. "Even shrimp need a balanced diet," Sun noted.

With their thin shells and plump, tender meat, these whiteleg shrimp are in high demand. The farm's three adult shrimp ponds can produce over 6,000 jin per cycle, fetching farm-gate prices of 28-30 yuan per jin, primarily supplying the Sichuan-Chongqing market. A new batch of shrimp fry will move to the adult ponds in early September, hitting the market in November. Meanwhile, construction is underway to expand the adult shrimp facility from 10 to 20 ponds, capitalizing on rapidly growing inland demand for this delicacy.

In Renshi Town, another farmer has spotted the same opportunity. In late August, his whiteleg shrimp facility was completing its first harvest cycle. "We're still in the trial phase with 12 ponds, planning to expand to 78 with six harvests annually totaling over 400,000 jin," explained technician Gan Hongkuan, as nets emerged from the water laden with blue-gray shrimp.

A second overseas arrival has also put down roots in Kaijiang. On August 25, at the sprawling lotus pond complex in BaoTaba Community, Puan Town, owner Yang Yongsheng hurriedly supervised workers loading a basket of Australian freshwater lobsters onto a truck bound for Chongqing, where potential partners awaited samples. "We're catching them early—each weighs about 65 grams now, and at peak maturity they'll reach 100 grams and command 65 yuan per jin at the pond gate," he said. After farming in Guangzhou where the market became saturated, Yang scouted the Sichuan-Chongqing region and settled on Kaijiang. This marks the county's first year farming Australian freshwater lobsters, with 20 million fry stocked across 3,800 mu of lotus ponds starting in June. Local authorities are planning a second-phase facility integrating farming, hatchery, and research to achieve self-breeding, truly transforming these "foreign guests" into locals.

These two overseas species complement each other's harvest cycles, giving Kaijiang's aquaculture year-round supply with staggered market timing. A major aquaculture county, Kaijiang maintains 73,900 mu of specialty aquatic farming area. In recent years, it has developed crayfish, hairy crabs, and pearl mussels generating annual output value of approximately 713 million yuan. "Kaijiang Crayfish" and "Kaijiang Hairy Crab" have earned National Geographic Indication product status, while pearl production ranks first in western China.

The effort to enrich the region's aquatic offerings continues. This year, PanShi Village in Huilong Town revitalized idle fish ponds, introducing river rockfish from outside the province. To meet the species' strict water quality and temperature requirements, the village channeled mountain spring water and deepened ponds beyond two meters. "Our 100 mu of river rockfish should yield about 50,000 jin," said Luo Denggang, the village party branch secretary.

From whiteleg shrimp to Australian freshwater lobsters, from tropical shrimp to cold-water fish, Kaijiang's overseas arrivals take turns reaching markets throughout the year, ensuring fresh flavors never run dry and bringing more and more "Taste of Kaijiang" to dining tables nationwide.