Do I need to refrigerate douchi?

Do Chinese fermented black beans (douchi) need to be refrigerated after you open the package? I bought a half-pound cellophane package of them recently, but of course I only used a few of them when I made a recipe with them last night. Various websites seem to differ on whether or not they need to be refrigerated or whether an airtight container on a shelf will suffice; the package said nothing about storage, one way or the other. I'm generally short on fridge space, so if I can safely avoid refrigerating them, that'd be preferable. Does anybody have experience with this?
posted by Johnny Assay on Jan 9, 2013 - 5 answers