I was graduated from Pingtung Agricultural Junior College (Now the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology). Since primary school, I had been an earnest, studious student, and would make active effort to absorb knowledge. Every phase of education left a deep impression on me and equipped me with capability. In primary school, I had developed ability in writing. In my junior high school, I took pains to learn English. When I went to junior college, the church nest to our college provided a good opportunity for me to talk with foreigners. Thanks to that, I am able to chat with foreigners with fluency.

Our family had engaged with baking for many generations, and I had accompanied my father in baking since I was a child. When the Chinese New Year approached, we had had an extremely time working day and night. It was common to stay overnight for a batch of pastries. In addition, my father was very strict in the procedures. He would ask me to do it once again if the result was not satisfactory enough. This was a harsh training for me, and made me a calm and persistent man. And thanks to this experience, I have been very close to my father since young.

To make good-quality baozi, you just have to use the best raw materials, which are fresh and without additives in any way. Just ask yourself if this is something you’ll eat. It the answer is affirmative, it is a good product.

I think every line of work has its challenges, and for making baozi, the price of meat is the most crucial factor for making profits. I remember once there was an outbreak of mouth-and-foot disease, and the wholesale price soared to TWD90 a catty. The crisis was the disguise of turning point, and we took the opportunity to invent new products and have won new patrons as a consequence. Thus we saved us from being victims to the fluctuations of price of raw materials. I also believe that “what comes around, goes around”.  Only by helping others will you have good luck in return.

I inherited this bakery from the hands of my father, and we never considered about opening new branches or anything like that. Yet my sons and daughter are more ambitious than me, with advanced training in modern bakery. My daughter went to Le Cordon Bleu for top training. I’m convinced that they will make the A-Zen Bakery better and might open up a new store, such as a teahouse. As for franchising, we don’t consider this option for now, because we cannot supervise the quality of other stores. There was a Japanese, Sadao Kobayashi, came to our bakery to learn baking skills and opened a branch store in Tokyo. We are very honored and pleased to know that the business of this store has been going well.

The LOGO on our gift box was designed by my daughter, Hsueh-yi Cheng. She intended to design name card for the bakery at first, and later decided to design a LOGO for the shop. She tool a major in advertising and design. 

Intended to make the LOGO of the bakery different from others, she chose Chinese painting to express the traditional spirit of China. After painting 100 pictures of baozi, she picked the most satisfactory one to be the new LOGO for the bakery.

We have four colors for the LOGO design: red, orange, black, and white. Red stands for the enthusiasm and a good sign, orange stands for fragrance, while black and white aim to convey the original touch of a Chinese brush.

　I was grown up in a bakers’ family, and got to be familiar with baking since very young. When I majored in advertising in college, I discovered that advertising shares the same property with baking, and that is the creativity and innovation that count. Then I decided to return to baking as my profession. 
　　Since we have grasped the knacks of Chinese and Japanese skills in baking, I considered that French baking might be the answer to my pursuit of advanced knowledge. By imbibing European art in baking, I could instill new spirit to our old bakery.  We had a really hard time when taking intensive training and practice from 7:00 am till 10:00 pm almost every day, Meanwhile, because you had to eat up what you had done, I ate quite some sweets and cakes in that year. Thus I put on some weight as a result of the overseas training. Of course such intensive training paid off, and when I returned home and made golden cakes for my granddad, who, always very fastidious in food, took several cakes and gave me praise for that. For me, success comes from the compliment of my granddad.

I think father and grandfather made great influence on me when it comes to baking. I’ve adhered to “good materials” and “healthful” like my granddad and father did. I would never use artificial flavors or any additives like some manufacturers. It’s my ultimate principle to make food with a clear conscience.

Yes. Baking is a profession that requires experiments and innovation. I’ve made a try at rosemary bread and French toast in small quantities. With the feedback from customers, I will continue with improving the products and thinking of new items to serve patrons.

　A-Zen Bakery was founded by grandfather, and I would keep a respectful attitude toward the operations of the bakery. However, I would open up a new teahouse that combines western baking and tea. I hope patrons at A-Zen Bakery will support this new store as they have supported A-Zen Bakery.  

I was not a brilliant learner in school, so my parents brought me to the A-Zen Bakery to be an apprentice. After a while, I found myself develop a liking to making baozi. I’ve been here for more than ten years. I remember the laborious training as an apprentice in here. The working hours were very long, and when orders came flowing in, we had to stay overtime to make work done. Yet all the hard work paid off, and now I’m a rather good baker, and enjoy the working atmosphere in here.

The most important thing is hygiene. We would throw away a thing once it fell on the ground. Averagely a staffer has to work for six months to be a real baker. We have a coworker who is capable of making pottery and is more skillful with hands. He finished the apprenticeship within four months.

Mr. Cheng is very nice boss to us all, and teaches us many things aside from baking. He treats us as if we were his children, and remarks all the time that “Be sure to respect others, so they will respect you too.” He also encourages us to read, which helps to widen a person’s horizon and knows how to interact with others.

(Facing Mr. Cheng) Thank you for taking me in your team. I appreciate that and have had a very happy time working in here.

I’ve not thought about that for the time being. All I want to do is hard work.