What gives chineese soups the dense texture?!

Take crab soup for example!. The soup, at first sight seems to be watery, almost colorless and clear, but that illusion is dispelled as soon as you stir it!. Unlike, 'western' clear soups, like, say, bullion, it won't keep circling for a long while - it settles almost at once!. Stuff in it - vegetables, crab meat etc, won't settle on the bottom or float by the surface - it's kept unmoving, neither sinking nor floating, suspended in the clear liquid!. The soup dripping seems somewhat, but not much thicker than water - and it has enormous thermal capacity!. It remains scalding hot for a long time after any 'western' soup would cool down!.

What's the mysterious component that gives these soups this texture!?

(I guess it's some powdery stuff - I found a kind of instant noodle 'just add hot water' that kept the same texture!.)Www@FoodAQ@Com

---

---