Legend has it that Song Mei-ling, the wife of Chiang Kai-shek, owed her beauty to eating oysters every day. Natives of Zhuhai's Hengqin Island (population 4,000) claim their oysters, which have been cultivated around the island for 130 years, bring good health and good looks. Diners can put the claim to the test at the Pier of Oyster Appeal, a seafood restaurant that has been operating since May on the site of a fishing-boat jetty. Its wooden pylons reach into the western tributary, where the Pearl River meets the South China Sea. Hengqin oysters are famed for being bigger, whiter, more robust and supple than their imported counterparts from France or Australia, and late November is considered the ideal time to eat them.
The restaurant prepares them in 13 ways and staff recommend the sizzling pan-fried oysters with seaweed, curry oysters, hot-pot oysters or crispy fried oysters (right). Most dishes cost 30 yuan a half-catty (about 300 grams), a bargain since the same dish would be twice the price outside of this tranquil island. Spice lovers should try the quick-fried oysters in Sichuan-style sauce or the garlic-roasted oysters (above; five yuan each) . Those on a diet will appreciate the oysters with radish threads served in a clear vegetable broth or grilled oysters with spring onions and ginger. Hengqin is only 60 metres from Coloane Village in Macau, but you have to pass through immigration on both sides of the Lotus Bridge, which links Coloane to Zhuhai. After that, the taxi ride to the restaurant takes about five minutes. There's no English sign for the restaurant, so it's suggested you call and let a staff member speak to your driver on the way (tel: 86 756 884 1611).
