This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Asia from the KU Center for East Asian Studies.

So in Japan, the vending machines act alive: they talk to you and make recommendations. Here in China, the vending machines are not alive but their contents are. At a subway station in Nanjing, people can buy live hairy crabs from a machine. Hairy crabs are a local delicacy from the Yangtze River delta. Packed in see-through plastic tubs, their legs neatly tucked under them, they snooze away the hours in a state of suspended animation induced by the cool interior temperatures of their vending machine quarters. About 200 crabs sell per day at prices ranging from 2 to 7 dollars, depending on size. And there’s even a guarantee: if your dinner should turn up dead: the company will give you free crabs for your troubles. Legally, that’s known as the Live Crab Claws…

From the KU Center for East Asian Studies, I’m Randi Hacker. Wish you were here.