为了让那些没空逛市场的顾客也能购买到新鲜的大闸蟹，江苏省南京市一家公司在当地数个地铁站安装了螃蟹自动售货机，消费者只需通过简单的操作，就可以按照大小进行选择，购买自己相中的螃蟹，每只螃蟹的售价为15.8元到52.8元不等。据悉，这些螃蟹自动售货机与平时街头常见的自动售货机外形相似，内由不同规格的货仓组成，鲜活的螃蟹用塑料盒子进行了标准化包装；自动售货机温度控制在5摄氏度，能确保螃蟹在售货机内存活7—10天。因推出后受到消费者的欢迎，该公司计划将螃蟹自动售货机推广到更多城市，甚至打算跨出国门打入日本市场。

The automatic crab dispensers have been installed at several underground stations in Nanjing, the capital of the southeastern province of Jiangsu.

Commuters in China who are too busy to keep supermarket opening hours are being offered a nutritious alternative to the diet of crisps, chocolate and fizzy drinks usually dispensed from train station vending machines – live crabs.

The automatic crab dispensers have been installed at several underground stations in Nanjing, the capital of the southeastern province of Jiangsu, by an enterprising local company hoping to capitalize on the increasingly hectic lifestyles of urban Chinese.

The 'Dazha' hairy crabs, which are a popular regional delicacy along the Yangtze River delta cities of Nanjing, Hangzhou and Shanghai, are sold in three sizes – large, medium or small – and range in prices from £1.50 to £5.00.

The crabs are packed into custom-fitted plastic boxes and chilled to 41F (5C) which is enough to sedate them but also keep them alive. A sign next to the machine offers three free crabs for anyone who is unlucky enough to get a dead one, the local 'Guangzhou Daily' newspaper reported.

"The customers were a bit skeptical at first as they were worried if the crabs were alive or not," Wu Zhendi, general manager of the Twin Lake Crab Co. told The Telegraph, "but now they see they are alive, they keep coming back. We are selling hundreds each day, and more at weekends."

The company, which claim on its website to supply crabs to dignitaries staying at China's Diaoyutai State Guesthouse outside Beijing, said it was now planning to expand the trials, possibly even as far as Japan where vending machines are used to sell everything from eggs to ice and umbrellas.