According to archaeological discoveries, as early as the Warring States Period, the ancient Ba people had invented the method of making candied fruit, preserved fruit, and stoved sugar from maltose, honey, and icing sugar. By the Han Dynasty, foods such as steamed buns and steamed buns could be made. During the Song Dynasty, cakes that were heavy in sugar and oil, fat, sweet, soft, glutinous, and crispy began to be made. In the Ming Dynasty, rock sugar could be made and "Tangguandao" cast. By the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, unique Bayu pastries had been formed in terms of category, variety and scale, with numerous workshops and various varieties. The most representative ones are "Huashan Jade" white jade cakes and other crispy snack series, Hechuan peach slices, white orange candies, Jiangjin crispy rice cakes, Baxian Mudong preserves, orange cakes and longevity crisps and other foods.
After Chongqing opened as a port, foreigners poured in, and Western candies and snacks gradually entered people's lives. In the 1930s, Yang Ziyao, a Shanghainese, opened the "Sullivan" Western Restaurant and his own bakery. "Lai Hongshun" Western restaurants and "Kangyuan" food factories appeared one after another, and began to mass-produce Western pastries.
Chinese-style pastries are emerging in local workshops, mainly including pastry-based winter melon pastries and bergamot pastries, sugar-coated sesame cakes and thin crisps, sweet pastry-based peach pastries and almond pastries, and cake-based light grass cakes. Cake and mung bean cake, etc. The most representative ones are miscellaneous sugars, including Jingguo, Mingguo, Hongyuan, sesame chips, brown sugar and dozens of other varieties. They are crispy, sweet and endlessly memorable.
According to the old man’s recollection, during festivals or when visiting relatives and friends, the gifts brought were indispensable candies and pastries. When the host serves tea, in addition to the traditional melon seeds, peanuts, beans, and dried red sweet potatoes, the host also serves mung bean cake, sesame slices and other snacks as usual.
The spring tide brings rain
With the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, mainstream candy and pastry manufacturers from all over the country moved to Chongqing one after another, which promoted the rapid development of the local candy and pastry manufacturing industry.
In 1938, the first companies to move to Chongqing were the Hankou "Zhenxing" Candy and Biscuit Factory and the Shanghai "Guanshengyuan" Food Factory, both of which produced Western-style bread and had Western-style food departments. China Grain Corporation established the Chongqing Grain and Forage Factory in Toutang, Jiangbei Province, to produce and sell biscuits. "Kangyuan", "Huiluo", "Dasan", "Zhongxing" and "Dasheng" bakeries bake Western-style cakes and breads. Jiangsu and Zhejiang have opened more than 30 biscuit factories such as "Chunmao", "Daxin" and "Huafeng", focusing on biscuits and adding new varieties such as sandwich and wafers.
In 1940, the candies produced in Chongqing included hard candies, soft candies, milk candies, lactose, meringues, sandwich candies, polished candies, gum candies, chocolate candies, powdered sugars, tea candies, etc. There are 11 categories and hundreds of varieties, which can compete with imported candies from Hong Kong and the West. In 1942, "Xinji Flower Orchard" launched decorated cakes, which were gorgeous in shape and very popular.
As for Chinese pastries, Suzhou and Guangdong pastry shops have opened stores everywhere. There are 18 time-honored brands such as "Caizhizhai", "Tongyiyong" and "Laodaoxiangcun". Newly added Cantonese-style mooncakes, Su-style moon cakes, Saqima, sugar-coated twist cakes, etc. There are 21 restaurants in this city, including "Guandong Village", "Duancheng", "Liqun", "Jieluo" and "Xinxin", focusing on local traditional pastries, with new varieties such as lamp grass cake, cloud cake, bird's nest cake, and back cake.
At this time, candy shops were dotted all over the place, making it dizzying to see. Liang Shiqiu, a writer and gourmet, wrote in his memoirs that when he went to Shizhong District for a stroll, he only felt the aroma was so fragrant that he couldn't help but salivate. It turns out that some candy shops deliberately use fans to blow air outside to attract customers.
By 1945, there were 220 candy and pastry manufacturers in Chongqing and more than 1,000 large and small retailers. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, some manufacturers moved back to their hometowns. After the Kuomintang provoked the civil war, the economy of the Kuomintang-controlled areas deteriorated and all industries collapsed. By 1949, more than half of the flour mills had closed down, the purchase of cane sugar had stopped, and the confectionery and pastry industry had shrunk extremely.
Prosperous economy and ambitious plans
In the early days of liberation, the Southwest Ministry of Public Security took over the "Xinji Flower Orchard" run by Lai Jianjun, the representative of the "National University" in accordance with the law, and established the first state-owned food enterprise. In June 1952, the former China Grain Industry Company biscuit factory and grain and fodder factory that had been taken over and the "Xingji Dachang" biscuit and candy factory funded by the war criminal Wang Yaowu were confiscated and merged to form the Chongqing Cooperatives United Food Factory.
In early 1954, the socialist transformation of private industry and commerce was launched. By January 1956, more than 80 private candy factories in the city had been transformed and all had the surname "Gong". Two companies were established in Shizhong District, named "Dazhong" Food Co., Ltd. and "Jinxing" Candy and Pastry Company; one factory was named "Linong" Food Factory.
With full investment from the state, Jiangjin Candy Factory and Rongchang "Hongqiao" Food Factory were built in 1953. Bishan County Candy and Pastry Factory was established in 1954. In 1958, "Jinxing" Food Factory and Beibei " Jinyun" food factory.
Due to natural and man-made disasters in the 1960s, the national economy was in serious difficulty, and all non-staple food supplies were rationed based on vouchers. In February 1961, the municipal party committee directed the sale of high-priced candies and pastries. In order to meet the needs of the people, the "Huashan Jade" and "Guanshengyuan" food factories produced day and night. The daily output of the two factories reached a maximum of 40 tons, which was more than 4 times the normal production. Together with the production of 60 other factories and workshops, the entire industry in 1961 The production and sales volume were 1,956.2 tons, with a cash withdrawal of 106.51 million yuan, ranking first in the country. In July 1965, as the economy improved, high-priced candies and pastries returned to parity.
During this period, Chongqing products firmly occupied the markets of adjacent cities and counties in eastern Sichuan and southern Sichuan, and some products also entered the markets in western Sichuan, northern Sichuan and Chengdu.
In particular, candies and biscuits are sold in large quantities to Hubei, Shaanxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, Tibet, Shanxi and other provinces and regions, becoming the most dynamic production base for the candy and pastry industry in southwest China.
Since the reform and opening up, Chongqing’s confectionery and pastry industry has developed vigorously, and a large number of state-owned, collective, township and individual food factories have been built in various districts and counties. State-owned enterprises "Huashan Jade", "Guanshengyuan" and "Jinyun" food factories have successively introduced production lines for Polish sandwich candies, German pine biscuits, chocolate, toffee, mogul candy, Italian chocolate and other production lines, which have greatly improved their production lines. Quality and taste. There are 2,500 varieties of designs and colors.
Peach slices, strange-flavored beans, peanut candy, rice krispie treats, etc. produced by "Jinyun", "Guanshengyuan", "Xinyu", "Lanxiangyuan", Hechuan Peach Slice Factory, Jiangjin Food Factory and other enterprises The products are not only sold to more than 20 provinces and cities in China, but also exported to the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan and Southeast Asia.