Seventy percent of oyster sprouts in China come from Qinzhou City in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, where oyster farming has been going on for hundreds of years. The locals started to increase their production in the late 1990s — a time when Chinese people began appreciating oysters more. While some say oysters can purify water, local farmers are becoming more conscious of how they can better grow oysters to maintain a good ecological balance.