Talk to any local in Tanmen about its transformation from quiet fishing village to buzzing tourist site and they will invariably point to two things: Xi Jinping and endangered giant clams.

But while the Chinese president’s historic visit in 2013 momentarily shot the town to prominence, it is the popularity of giant clam handicrafts that has driven Tanmen’s economy the last few years.

Touted as one of Buddhism’s “seven treasures”, the shell of giant clams, or che qu as they are known in Chinese, can be fashioned into ornaments or jewellery.

http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/how-endangered-giant-clams-harvested-from-south-china-sea-transformed-the-fortunes-of